DIARY 



George Mifflin Dallas 



While United States Minister to Russia 
1837 to 1839, and to England 1836 to 1861 



EDITED BY 
SUSAN DALLAS 




PHILADELPHIA 



PR 4 1 



J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
1892 



x\AP>i*\ 



OV&3- 



-04-°° 






CorrmiGRT, 1892, 

BY 



E - • COTT COMPV 



PREFATORY. 



My dear Miss Dallas : 

All lovers of literature, and especially all students of 
history, will, I am sure, hail with pleasure the publica- 
tion of your father's diaries of the events of his daily 
life at the courts of Russia and Great Britain, which 
are soon to appear under the editorial auspices of his 
daughter. 

His observation of affairs and his experiences, diplo- 
matic and personal, while Envoy Extraordinary and Min- 
ister Plenipotentiary at the courts of two of the greatest 
powers of Europe, cannot fail to be of much interest to 
the public, while all who knew him, and especially all 
who, like myself, had the good fortune to be honoured 
with his friendship and his confidence, will see in these 
pages the reflected image of a personality at once stately 
and genial, robust and refined, and equipped not only 
with the learning which befits a scholar, but also with 
all the graces and accomplishments which add such a 
charm to learning and to power, wheresoever they are 
found, when they are conjoined with them. Brought up, 
as he was, in that atmosphere which now appears so 
fascinating to us all, — the atmosphere which surrounded 
the old school of American gentlemen at the period 
immediately succeeding the Revolution, — and under the 
care of a father, himself one of the most illustrious of 
statesmen and lawyers which our country has produced, 
the friend and confidant of James Madison and one of 

3 



4 PREFA TOR V. 

the pillars of his administration, your distinguished 
father gave early promise of the great reputation which 
he subsequently achieved among his countrymen. 

From his youth up he was acquainted with the cares 
and responsibilities of public office, and in every posi- 
tion to which he was elevated by his countrymen, he 
not only displayed great abilities, but also the most con- 
scientious regard for both public and private rights, 
and that zeal and assiduity in the discharge of public 
duties which earned the approval of his fellow-citizens 
and the commendation of all familiar with public affairs. 
The diaries which you propose to publish were, as you 
know, read by me long ago, and I found them full of 
instruction and amusement. Mr. Dallas's pure and hon- 
ourable life and his agreeable and courtly manners made 
him always a favourite at the courts to which he was 
accredited, and often, no doubt, put him in possession of 
secrets of state which would not have been intrusted to 
a less popular minister. Hence the diaries are full of 
interesting facts, while the occasional gossip of courtly 
circles adds much that is interesting as well as amusing 
to the reader. These records of the daily experiences 
and observation at foreign courts of one so quick of 
apprehension, so versatile, and so competent to impart 
to them an attractive form in their relation, are records 
which we could ill afford to lose, and you will deserve, 
and I doubt not will receive, the thanks, as well as the 
praise, of all who read this volume, for having given it to 
the public. 

I remain, my dear Miss Dallas, 

Yours very faithfully, 

M. Russell Thayer. 
Philadelphia, September 23, 1891. 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 

(NICHOLAS I.) 
1837 1839. 



DIARY 



GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 



1837. July 29. — The Independence made Dagerost 
Point on the evening of Thursday, the 27th instant, and 
with a brisk breeze on the quarter turned into the Gulf 
of Finland at about eight o'clock ; continuing our course 
almost before the wind, we reached the last light, the 
Tolbeacon light, at about ten o'clock last night, and the 
pilot deemed it most prudent to lay to until dawn, at 
two o'clock this morning, when we made sail again 
and anchored in the harbour of Cronstadt at about five. 
While coming up the gulf, on this side of Horgland, 
we passed a Russian squadron, principally composed 
of three-deckers and line-of-battle ships, one dozen in 
number, with the Admiral of which our Commodore ex- 
changed a salute of seventeen guns. We saluted, after 
anchoring, with twenty-one guns. 

The day has been rendered memorable by a dramatic 
visit from the Emperor Nicholas, accompanied by the 
chief officers now here, among them Count Nesselrode, 
Prince Mensikoff, and the Governor of Cronstadt. The 
Emperor is fond of these abrupt and covered visitations, 
and plays the game with dexterity and ease. Our vice- 
consul at Cronstadt, Leonartzen, happened to be accom- 
panying the Commodore in his gig on a visit to the 

7 



8 PIARY OF GEOR GE MIFFL IN DA LLAS. 

Governor of Cronstadt, at about eleven o'clock, when 
the barge belonging to the Imperial steamboat passed 
them, and he immediately recognized the Czar acting as 
its coxswain, and distinguishable from the officers who 
surrounded him by a close white cloth cap. The gig 
was immediately turned back in the just belief that the 
Emperor would come on board the Independence. He 
first, however, stopped at the Danish frigate lying near 
us, and remained undetected for half an hour. He then 
came to us, still acting as a mere aid or subordinate to 
Prince Mensikoff, and coming last up our gangway. As 
he obviously desired to pass without recognition, his 
retinue paid no attention to him, and it was a matter of 
obvious courtesy with us to forbear breaking in upon his 
fancied incognito. He separated himself from the rest, 
peered actively throughout the ship, spoke inquiringly to 
a number of the seamen, and accidentally coming across 
my infant daughter, took her in his arms, expressed great 
delight at her beauty, and repeatedly kissed her. 

His fine figure and penetrating eye had been remarked, 
however, by almost every one, and no one was deceived 
as to his reality. When going, he touched his cap to 
Prince Mensikoff, inquired whether he was ready to 
leave, and, being answered affirmatively, ran up the 
gangway, descended, and again took the helm, while the 
ceremony of departure was going through by the others. 
Our Commodore now broke through the disguise and 
saluted him with forty-one guns, which induced him at 
once to resume the Emperor, to hoist signals to the Rus- 
sian frigate ordering a return of the salute, to run up 
at the mast-head o( his steamboat the American ensign, 
and finally, to display his Imperial standard. This last 
act was instantly followed by tremendous salutes from 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 9 

all the numerous men-of-war in the harbour and from the 
various forts of Cronstadt. The effect was fine beyond 
description, and our ship seemed to be for a time the 
centre round which was acting one of the most beautiful 
and exciting scenes imaginable. 

During this remarkable visit I became personally 
known to Count Nesselrode. 

1837. July 31. — The Governor of Cronstadt having 
placed his steamer at my disposal for the purpose, I, 
this morning, sent all my baggage on board of her, and 
embarked with my family, accompanied by a number 
of the officers of the Independence, for St. Petersburg. 
Commodore Nicholson stayed on board his ship, the 
Independence, and gave me a salute of fifteen guns. 
Thus closed my connection with this noble frigate and 
her gallant crew. It seemed like severing the last cord 
which bound me to my home, and, with all my family, 
I own I was deeply affected. The steamer was slow of 
motion ; the navigation over fiats and bars, although but 
sixteen miles, required a pilot ; the sun was intensely hot, 
and we reached the English quay, on the right bank of 
the Neva, at about half-past four o'clock. 

1837. August 1. — Much time was consumed in order 
to prepare for our presentation to the Emperor and 
Empress on Sunday next, and in examining the house 
of Monsieur Bobrinski, near the admiralty, which is 
recommended by our consul, Mr. A. P. Gibson. 

1837. August 5. — I entered upon the possession of a 
house I have rented from Count Bobrinski, at the sum of 
nine thousand roubles, or eighteen hundred dollars, per 
annum. It is fully furnished, and promises to be alike 
neat, gentlemanly, clean, and comfortable. The opera- 
tion of moving in has been laborious and fatiguing; but 



S 



10 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS 

I am overjoyed at again finding myself under a roof of 
my own, with all my children around me, and, as it 
were, once more at home. 

1837. August 6. — Mrs. Dallas, my two daughters, and 
I in one carriage, and Mr. Chew, my secretary of lega- 
tion, in another, with an extra carriage for baggage, left 
St. Petersburg to-day at about ten o'clock, and reached 
Peterhoff Palace by twelve. We were shown into a suite 
of apartments, and had served up a comfortable dijeuner 
a lafourcJiette. After putting on our court costume, we 
were informed that Imperial carriages would conduct us 
to the palace for presentation at about half-past three 
o'clock. Accordingly they came. I now rode with 
Mrs. Dallas in one carriage, and left my daughters to be 
escorted in the other by Mr. Chew. We were ushered 
into a splendid antechamber up-stairs, the walls of 
which were wainscoted with beautiful paintings, at 
least four hundred different heads, all of great delicacy 
and nearly the same size. 

The master of ceremonies led the ladies into a corner 
of the apartment overlooking the grand water-works, and 
I entered into easy conversation with Baron Nicolai. We 
were almost the first present. The room, however, rap- 
idly filled with glittering officers, military and civil, and 
with ladies, whose glowing, soft, and fair complexions it 
was impossible not to admire. 

After some time passed in listless expectation and chat, 
I was conducted into a distant chamber and presented to 
Nicholas I. I had hardly entered the door before he 
came rapidly towards me, his hands both extended, and, 
with an air of great frankness and ease, shook me by the 
hands with the utmost apparent cordiality. His first 
words were : " Mr. Dallas, you are welcome to Russia. 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. II 

I have to thank you for the very handsome and hospita- 
ble manner in which my disguised visit to your ship was 
received. I have never seen a nobler vessel. I found 
you knew me after I had gone ; but did any one recog- 
nize me while on board ? You were here twenty- 
four years ago, but you could hardly know me, 
changed as I am since then. I took your ship on the 
moment of her arrival, in her ordinary sea-trim : I did 
not want to see her dressed up. She is an admirable 
ship. I am going to send some of my naval officers to 
the United States to learn naval architecture and science ; 
and I must request you to let them have such letters as 
will facilitate their progress. Can you persuade Com- 
modore Nicholson to delay his departure until after Fri- 
day next, when the eighty-gun ship at the new admiralty 
is to be launched ? I should be much pleased to have him 
present and to hear his remarks." 

To all and each of these inquiries I, of course, made 
replies. He asked me also what the disturbances in 
Canada were tending to, and observed that when a gov- 
ernment became oppressive, and forgot the tender care 
to which a colony was entitled, she justified resistance 
and separation. 

I told him that I put little faith in the alleged spirit 
of independence in Canada ; that dissatisfaction had long 
prevailed there; but the people were not, I believe, ener- 
getic or united enough for a decisive course of action. 
We then spoke about Russia, and I said that I had been 
much struck with the great improvements made during his 
reign in the department of his marine, especially at Cron- 
stadt, and in the magnificent structures of St. Petersburg. 
" Why," said he, " I am perfectly satisfied with this people, 
and will do all I can for them." 



12 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

At the close of the conversation he again shook me 
by the hand, and I bowed and left him. I had, during 
a pause, put my letter of credence in his possession, 
which he laid upon a table without opening; and, in 
reply to my assurance that the United States were dis- 
posed to strengthen and confirm the harmonious relations 
subsisting between the two governments, he said that 
he felt delight at the conviction of that truth, and would 
not be behind my government in manifestations of cor- 
dial friendship. I was immediately afterwards conducted 
to the Empress, who remarked, among other things, 
that our government was in the practice of changing 
its representatives here very frequently, and she wanted to 
know whether the same course was pursued as to other 
countries, and whether it arose from any settled principle 
of policy. I told her that it was indiscriminately done, 
was partly ascribable to the changes to which all popular 
governments were more or less subject, and in many cases 
was imputable to accidental causes. " Well," said she, " I 
hope you will prove an exception to this practice, that 
you will be happy in Russia, and remain long." 

We had been formally invited to dine with the Impe- 
rial family as soon as we reached the palace, and as soon 
as the form of being presented had closed, and the Em- 
peror, Empress, the Grand Duchess of Wiartemberg, and 
the grand duchesses, daughters of the Emperor, had 
mingled in the crowd of the ante-room for about fifteen 
minutes, the doors of the banqueting-room were thrown 
open, a numerous band of music struck up, and the com- 
pany proceeded, with apparently very little formality, to 
dinner. 

One of the masters of ceremonies led me forward and 
placed me at table immediately in front of the Empress, 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 3 

while Mrs. Dallas and my daughters were placed next 
to the Imperial family, alongside of the younger grand 
duchess. I was repeatedly addressed, on various topics, 
by the Empress, who spoke distinct, if not handsome, 
English. Among her other remarks was her desire to 
know whether our novelist Cooper had lately written 
another book, for he was her great favourite, especially in 
such works as the " Pioneer," the " Spy," and the " Last 
of the Mohicans." She had, however, not read all, nor, 
in my opinion, his best productions, and I recommended 
the " Red Rover" and the " Water-Witch." She had 
not heard before of his last work on England, and seemed 
surprised that he should write about a country where he 
had been so little. 

I had cause to be officially and personally highly 
gratified, and hastened to return to St. Petersburg. We 
galloped home by nine o'clock, driven by a coachman 
who was very drunk, but of whose condition we were 
not aware till safely housed. 

I left in the hands of one of the officers in waiting 
the sum of two hundred roubles, the customary present 
on similar occasions. 

1837. August 13. — The frigate Independence sailed 
from Cronstadt at about noon to-day. 

1837. August 20. — Attended divine worship in the 
chapel of the British factory on the English quay. The 
two front pews have been civilly devoted to myself and 
family. The clergyman, whose sermon was certainly 
good, is named Law, and is of the stock of Lord Ellen- 
borough and of Thomas Law, of Washington. 

1837. August 26. — The Spanish consul here, Don 
Raymond de Chacon, paid me a visit, to inquire about 
his brother in Philadelphia. In the course of conversa- 



14 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

tion, he told me there was very little official business 
for him to attend to here ; that, although Spanish prod- 
uce to the amount of fifty millions was annually brought 
into Russia from the West Indies or the Peninsula, 
sugar, coffee, wines, etc., it came in British or American 
vessels. During all last year but three Spanish vessels 
came to Russia, to the port of Riga. I asked him news 
from the seat of civil war, and this led to other general 
remarks. He says Mendizabel is a very able man, but 
no ability can compel the Spaniards to pay the levies 
made upon them for the public service, which cannot 
get on without money; that the attempt of Don Carlos 
must fail ultimately, even if he succeed in reaching 
Madrid ; that he is fortunate in having excellent officers 
in command of his forces, and that his soldiers fight 
with an enthusiasm and devotion scarcely conceivable ; 
that he is openly countenanced by Russia, who, if she 
does not, as she in fact cannot, actually lend him money, 
secretly and efficiently encourages and guarantees others 
in doing so ; and that the pretensions of the people of 
Catalonia, the principal supporters of Carlos, are so ob- 
noxious to all the rest of Spain, and so utterly inconsis- 
tent with the integrity of the Spanish monarchy, that 
nothing more is necessary than a little additional success 
on their part in order to make every other Spaniard a 
soldier for the Queen. 

1837. -August 28. — The Countess de Ficquelmont, 
wife of the Austrian Ambassador, paid Mrs. Dallas a 
visit. She is very far the finest-looking woman I 
have yet seen, her personal appearance being an agree- 
able combination of Mrs. Maria Watmough and Mrs. 
Wadsworth. 

Our consul brought me cards of invitation to the sub- 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 



15 



scription ball given on Wednesday next at the Palace of 
the Mineral Waters. It is usually attended, I am told, by 
the diplomatic corps, and furnishes a fair opportunity for 
the ladies to see the fashionable world of St. Petersburg. 

The Count and Countess Schimmelpenninck (Minister 
from Holland) called late this evening. He is anything 
but handsome, but speaks English slightly and French 
fluently. He is an unaffected, plain man of business, 
never before here, and confessedly as much like a fish 
out of water in diplomatic life as I am. He has eight 
children, the eldest sixteen years of age. He tells me 
he has rented a house in the Great Moscoy, belonging 
to Baron Talse, for fifteen thousand roubles. He says 
that his family have long been concerned in our Holland 
Land Company, and he manifested some pleasure when 
I told him that I did not believe the commercial distress 
of our country would affect the Genesee lands or their 
farmers. 

1837. September 8. — Mr. Rodofinikine called this morn- 
ing; among other matters he referred to the wretched 
condition of the Russian peasantry, and said that they 
were in the habit of burying their money, whether silver 
or gold, and of pretending to be utterly destitute ; that 
four or five hundred rubles was a very large sum for them 
to own, and that until a recent ukase of the present 
Emperor they were not competent to hold any portion 
of the soil, but that now there were about a million of 
them who owned small tracts of land, which they farmed. 
He expressed an opinion that too much labour was already 
bestowed upon agriculture, and that more was produced 
than could be consumed, and no markets were to be 
found for the surplus. Great quantities of sheep were 
raised in the southern provinces, and Count Nesselrode 



1 6 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

had, in the neighbourhood of Wosnesensk, a flock of 
about seventeen thousand merinos. 

We repeated some of our diplomatic visits to-day, only- 
finding the Countess Ficquelmont (Austrian embassy) 
at home. I mentioned to her that the United States 
were about to form diplomatic relations with Austria, 
and that we should all be proud to see her some day or 
other in America. She blushed for an instant, and then 
said that when fourteen years of age (I should suppose 
her now to be about thirty-five) she had been on the eve 
of marrying an American by the name of Dulaney, but 
that her mother had interfered and prevented it; she 
would otherwise have gone to my country and have there 
spent her life; and she seemed to recur to its beauties 
and fertility as to pictures which a young and ardent 
correspondent had indelibly engraven on her memory. 

1837. September 10. — The imports of tobacco into St. 
Petersburg have been the subject of my study to-day. I 
am satisfied that we supply Russia with this weed to 
an extent of nearly half a million dollars annually, and 
that the trade has increased, is still increasing, and might, 
by modification of the Russian tariff, be very largely in- 
creased. 

1837. September 11. — The ceremony at the monastery 
of St. Alexander Nafsky attracted us to-day. It is that 
saint's day, and usually a very imposing procession, 
after much solemn church performance, accompanies the 
image of the Virgin Mary from the monastery to the 
Church of St. Kazan. The Emperor and his court, how- 
ever, are absent, and things were this morning compara- 
tively flat. The crowd of gorgeously-dressed officers 
was considerable ; the priestly services were protracted, 
and the throng of spectators in the perspective was long 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 7 

and dense. The badness of the weather no doubt inter- 
fered disadvantageously. The church in the monastery 
is remarkably fine : its lofty dome, finely-arched ceilings, 
rich altar, countless paintings of uncommon excellence, 
and the sumptuous silver tomb of the saint, were all 
sources of much gratification. Nor could we avoid 
being struck with the music of the chanting, character- 
ized, as it was, by some of the deepest and most powerful 
voices I ever heard. There must be something in the 
worship of the Greek Church more impressive than a 
stranger who cannot understand its language, and, there- 
fore, cannot follow its forms, is apt to imagine. It was 
singular to see the apparent earnestness and reverence 
with which, as the consecration closed, the gaudily- 
dressed officers of state and army and navy, some of 
whom we knew, hastened to kiss the cross, held mildly 
forward by the officiating priest, and the external cover- 
ings of the saint's monument. 

The Saxon charge, Baron de Seebach, spent tea-time 
with us. He gave me an animated account of my land- 
lord, Count Bobrinski, who is about twenty-eight years 
of age and married. His fortune is immense; he takes 
the lead in munificent subscriptions and contributions to 
all enterprises of importance, and is distinguished for 
eccentricity. He derives his principal enjoyment from 
the excitement of danger, — navigating his boat when the 
wind is heaviest, and seeking sport in bear-hunting. On 
one occasion he was fortunate enough to have a fight 
with a large bear he had wounded, and whose tracks he 
needlessly followed ; he was regularly hugged, torn with 
claws, and would have been killed, had he not used a 
knife, handed him by his servant, with great dexterity 
and presence of mind. 

3 



1 8 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

1837. October 9. — I visited to-day the Mining Com- 
pany, an institution devoted to the improvement and 
study of mineralogy, metallurgy, and kindred branches 
of natural sciences. It is located in a splendid building 
on the west bank of the Neva, and forms a conspicuous 
object as the city is approached from Cronstadt. The 
collection of minerals and fossils is extensive and most 
beautifully arranged. Nothing can exceed their neat- 
ness. I saw here the largest lump of naked gold, weigh- 
ing twenty-four pounds ; the huge rock of malachite, 
weighing three thousand four hundred and fifty-six 
pounds; and a number of beautiful models of celebrated 
mines, factories, and projected bridges, etc. At present 
there are two hundred and fifty students in the college, 
though they can accommodate four hundred. The di- 
rector, whose name I procured from one of the officers, 
in order to be able to write to him about the box of 
minerals confided to my care by Dr. Waggener, of 
Easton, is General Weixenbreyer. 

1837. October 10. — I have had to-day a protracted 

and agreeable call from Count de R , the Danish 

charge d'affaires. Our conversation assumed a cast 
of peculiar interest to me, in relation to public men, 
and to the difficulties of acquiring information on 
the internal condition and administration of affairs in 
Russia. He expressed a very high opinion of the abili- 
ties of Lord Durham, who told him, shortly before he 
left here, that he intended spending this winter in the 
south of Europe ; to abstain during his return to Eng- 
land from entering into busy politics ; and to come again 
to St. Petersburg in the summer of next year. He 
presumes that the death of the King, William IV., altered 
his position and plans in some degree. He describes 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 9 

him as naturally a proud, haughty, and resolute man ; 
well versed in the practice of business ; eager to be 
the chief wherever he is, and bent upon being premier 
sooner or later. Europe, he thinks, will applaud his 
moderation in reference to the case of the Vixen, when 
it is known that, having had it in his power to produce 
a general war, and being impelled to it by his own min- 
istry and by the inclination of his own sovereign, he 
nevertheless boldly and effectually pursued a course to 
maintain peace. He assumed, indeed, an attitude in all 
his public conduct, of unexampled independence, as 
well in reference to his own as to this government. He 
was in the habit, whenever any Russian officer thwarted 
his views, of going directly to the Emperor, and of en- 
forcing his complaints even so far as, on several occasions, 
to obtain the dismissal of those of whose conduct he 
complained. I told him that I thought, after all, his 
lordship would find his way into the British cabinet, 
principally on account of his known radical principles, 
and the expediency of conciliating the radical party. 
He said that he was in reality a higher-toned politician 
than Sir Robert Peel, and that his recent abjuration of 
radicalism was nothing more than a return to natural 
sentiment from the disguises of policy. 

The present Emperor proposes to emancipate the serfs 
on the Imperial domain, and to confide their government 
to Kitisoff. The example will ultimately work its way; 
but its progress must necessarily be very slow, as it will 
be resisted by the great nobles. 

1837. October 12. — I accompanied my family to-day 
in visiting two places well deserving the curiosity of 
strangers, — the Tauride Palace and the Preobrajensky 
Church annexed to the Smolnoy Monastery. 



20 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

The palace is probably but little inhabited now. Its 
furniture in general seemed old and neglected, and the 
temperature throughout was disagreeably cold. With 
the exception of two or three, the rooms are small. The 
objects of attraction are: First, the banqueting-hall, 
a spacious colonnade, opening on one side into an ex- 
tensive conservatory, with a profusion of plants, smooth 
gravel walks, and fixtures for splendid illuminations ; 
there are beautiful specimens of antique sculpture sta- 
tioned between the Corinthian pillars and some noble 
marble vases ; the pillars are surrounded by artificial 
garlands, twining to the dome, and sustaining innumer- 
able lights ; the bas-reliefs were crowded and exceed- 
ingly fine ; second, the collection of paintings distributed 
through all the apartments, and in one of them arranged 
in panels so as to cover entirely two sides, is cele- 
brated; the architectural pieces and the city views 
struck me as the most vivid and true I had ever seen. 
The enormous picture of Orpheus before Pluto sur- 
rounded by the Fates and Judges, with Cerberus charmed 
into silence in one corner, and the shade of Eurydice 
impelled forward in the background, seemed to my 
eye of the French school. There were excellent speci- 
mens of other schools ; third, the collection of ancient 
marbles, busts, figures, and groups is admirable ; a good 
copy of the Laocoon adorned the head of the banquet- 
ing-hall. Several figures of laughing children were 
exceedingly delightful, and, fourth, the gorgeous temple 
of malachite columns, mosaic slab, Siberian porphyry 
steps, and rich gold ornaments, which occupies the 
centre of the circular hall of entrance. This is tempo- 
rarily placed there, and kept covered by an immense 
round screen that is hoisted by pulleys ; it is intended by 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 21 

Dimidoff as a present to the church now building in St. 
Isaac Place, in the rear of the statue of Peter the Great. 

The Preobrajensky (commonly called Smolnoy) 
Church struck us all as by far the most beautiful one 
we have yet seen. The purity of its milk-white pol- 
ished columns, the exquisite delicacy and grandeur 
of its dome, the gorgeousness of its altar-piece, fenced 
in by railings of cut glass and loaded with golden orna- 
ments of the nicest workmanship; the splendid paintings 
in its panelling, the light yet massive folding-doors of 
carved gold, and the grand delineation of the Ascension 
upon which the eyes rest as these doors open; the 
superb canopy of the Emperor when he worships there, 
and the chaste yet rich slab and its frame erected in mem- 
ory of the Empress Maria, recently dead ; and, finally, 
the tasteful form given to the many stoves with which 
the building is warmed, — all conspired to make our 
admiration more decided and eloquent than usual. I 
can imagine nothing finer as a spectacle than what must 
be the appearance of this church on occasions of solemn 
ceremony, and when fully lighted up. 

The river Neva rose to-day, under the influence of a 
strong wind from the southeast, three feet higher than I 
have yet noticed it to be. 

1837. October 15. — Mr. Van Buren's first Presidential 
message, made to the special Congress convened on the 
4th of September last, was in Galignani 's Messenger that 
reached me this morning. Thus forty days elapsed be- 
fore I received this most interesting document. 

At so great a distance from the theatre of action, I 
cannot pretend to speculate, with any confidence, upon 
the state of politics at Washington. There are, however, 
two or three conclusions deduced from recent news 

3* 



22 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

which I think are reasonable and just. Two hundred 
and nineteen out of the two hundred and forty members 
of the House of Representatives were present on the 
first day : allowing for some imperfect delegations and 
some sicknesses, the number that attended indicates an 
active state of the public mind, and a hope, on the part 
of the opposition, of being able to effect something. 
Polk had one hundred and sixteen votes for the speaker's 
chair, and Bell one hundred and three : if, as is probable, 
neither voted for himself nor for his competitor, then 
the number present was two hundred and twenty-one. 
The result indicates a sound condition of our party, 
generally speaking: so decided a rally for so decided a 
partisan as Polk is not to be mistaken ; and I feel assured 
that the administration is secure of a steady support. 
But the majority of thirteen cannot be expected to re- 
main uniform and inflexible as to all measures, and I 
apprehend secession or independent voting will take 
place as readily and promptly on the questions respect- 
ing the currency and the establishment of government 
offices of deposit and disbursement as on any imaginable 
question. No doubt, the election of the speaker ex- 
tinguishes all idea of a national bank, and so far Mr. 
Van Buren will be victoriously borne out; but his pro- 
ject of relief — of severing altogether the connection be- 
tween the national fiscal concerns and the State banks, 
and of creating officers as means for that end — may be 
embarrassed, if not rejected. The message is an able 
paper. In its tone and dignity it is auspicious of a new 
era ; in its extreme length it belongs to the old class. 
Its decision is admirable, and bespeaks, especially as the 
production of a most sagacious politician, the strongest 
possible confidence in the dispositions and will of the 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 23 

people. The President is obviously sure of his ground 
and throws, his views to his fellow-citizens with all the 
boldness and the fulness which attest a conviction that 
they will be acceptable and echoed back. If I mistake 
not, the time has come for the most important operation 
of finance ever yet executed in America: I mean the un- 
meshing the public revenues, and keeping them always, 
and at a moment's warning, at the control of the people 
to whom they belong. The whole science of finance 
will become simplified; all the doubts heretofore mixed 
up with its movements will be removed ; and the com- 
monest farmer will be able to appreciate, with positive 
certainty, the condition and capabilities of the public 
treasury. What has the government got in its vaults ? 
will be the only necessary inquiry in order to determine 
all questions of expenditures. 

I have some speculative doubts about this great 
measure of isolating the public treasure which might 
probably yield to the suggestions of clearer heads than 
mine. I can very well perceive all the safety and con- 
venience resulting from the plan, and I feel no sort of 
apprehension about the pitiful augmentation of patron- 
age or expense. But as a politician whose creed reposes 
mainly upon the separate State governments and the 
people, I entertain some jealousy of a proposition which 
contemplates endowing, not the national executive, but 
the Federal government, with a treasure absolutely inde- 
pendent of all popular sympathy or local embarrassment. 
Is it not the beau ideal of American republicanism that 
the government, participating promptly and keenly in 
the weal or woe of the people, is therefore perpetually 
alive to their prosperity ? Ought not the government, 
particularly as to its life-blood, money, to be always 



24 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

embarked in the same boat, sharing in the same hazards, 
with the mass who are governed ? If its treasure be 
safe on shore, are not its dependence upon, and its at- 
tachment to, the crew diminished? Will not the influ- 
ence of the people upon their government be lessened, 
if not totally destroyed, when that government has ac- 
cumulated a vast hoard of wealth, not to be affected 
or endangered by anything they may suffer or want? 
Suppose the surplus revenue at this moment to amount 
to five hundred million, — and ten years of prosperous 
hoarding would make it equal to that, — and see how 
practically independent, both of the people and the States, 
the general government becomes. There would exist 
a central and consolidated power with a vengeance ; 
a power that would have as little need to attend to the 
happiness of the people as had Napoleon, with his four 
hundred millions of francs in the cellars of the Thuilleries, 
when he meditated the invasion of Russia. It was cer- 
tainly the doctrine of Chief-Justice Marshall that the 
general government should always be capable of an 
absolute, independent exercise of all its constitutional 
functions ; and in the abstract the theory is sound ; but, 
as a Democrat, I doubt whether we should be very vigor- 
ous in carrying it into practice. I do not mean that I 
would be in favor of preserving the connection subsisting 
between the national treasury and the State bank : the 
evils springing out of that are positive and overwhelm- 
ing; but I do mean to say that I doubt whether I would 
consent to such an arrangement for the keeping and dis- 
bursement of the public moneys as would make their 
safety and availability totally independent of the condi- 
tion, wants, wishes, distresses, and opinions of the people. 
1837. November 1. — The acting consul of the United 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 2$ 

States, Mr. Van Sassen, called on me yesterday. In 
course of conversation he stated that he was obliged to 
meet the Commercial Court at twelve o'clock, of which 
he was one of the judges, and I obtained from him the 
following description of this tribunal : 

The three mercantile guilds embrace about eight 
thousand persons. These are all entitled to participate 
in the annual election of the members of this bench, al- 
though, in fact, not more than two thousand take a part. 
The court consists of one president (now and generally a 
person learned in the principles and forms of Russian 
laws), one vice-president (of the same qualifications), and 
eight merchants. The merchants receive no compensa- 
tion, and are obliged to serve for three years. The court 
divides itself, for expedition and facility, into two sec- 
tions, — one of four merchants, over which the president 
presides ; the other, of the same number, with the vice- 
president. Their jurisdiction extends to all controversies 
in the slightest degree connected with and arising out of 
any transaction of trade, and their decisions are final, if 
the amount in dispute does not exceed ten thousand 
roubles. An appeal lies to the senate. Their sessions are 
secret, each section meeting twice a week and on differ- 
ent days ; and the parties litigant may, if they like, em- 
ploy lawyers, a class of persons here in no repute. The 
judges have each an equal voice in deciding every cause, 
and the decision is made by ballot. This tribunal was 
established by the present Emperor about five years ago ; 
and, as it is a court of record, it has had great effect in 
systematizing and settling commercial principles and rule. 
Its expenses are defrayed partly by the Imperial treasury 
and partly by the city of St. Petersburg. 

There can certainly be no lack of materials for corre- 



26 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

spondence here, for everything 1 and everybody and every 
usage and every fashion are novel and striking. We are 
out every day, one squadron of four or five in the car- 
riage, and another on foot, and we uniformly return, after 
two or three hours' exercise, with exclamations as to the 
strangeness, the grandeur, the folly, or the beauty of what 
we have encountered. On one day, an Imperial band of 
music, several hundred strong, is met in the Nevski Pro- 
spective, and our carriage moves slowly for a mile in the 
midst of the finest airs most finely executed. On another 
day, the postilion cracks his whip, and we are galloped 
to a parade-ground and witness the evolutions of two 
thousand cavalry, the men richly equipped in white cas- 
simere, with helmets fit for Achilles, and mounted on 
jet-black horses. Again, what carriage is that we are 
meeting? It is drawn by six grays, with postilions and 
outriders all in crimson-and-gold liveries, and is that of 
the Princess Galitzen, who is more than a hundred years 
of age, and is the revered maid of honor of the present 
Empress, as she was of the great Catherine II. Again, 
we will wait till the approaching cavalcade passes by. 
The moulding of the magical bullets in " Der Freischutz" 
was not accompanied by a more horrible and grotesque 
set of figures. They advance in pairs, enveloped in long 
and loose robes of black, wearing hats with crowns fitted 
tight and round to the head, and brims at least a foot 
broad, each man carrying a blazing torch in the clear 
sunshine. There may be a hundred of them, and in the 
centre of the line there is borne upon the shoulders of six 
or eight a bright, gaudy, tinselled, scarlet coffin ! 

It is not necessary that I should pause to find subjects 
for description. The commonest and most constantly 
recurring appearances are singular to our eye and taste. 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 2J 

The streets afford at every step something for comment. 
Here, for instance, comes a mere labourer. His cov- 
ering is a sheepskin cloak, the wool inwards, lapping 
over in front, and kept together by a coarse and often 
colored girdle. It is dirty externally beyond concep- 
tion, smeared black with grease, and smells most offen- 
sively. He wears a hat of no shape, with the band 
drawn tight half-way in the crown. His feet are hid in 
a sort of matting, composed of strips about an inch wide 
and plaited in the form of a moccason. His beard hangs 
a foot from his chin. His moustache is thick and con- 
ceals both lips, and his hair, coarse and matted, is cut 
close and round, just along the rim of his hat. His neck 
is entirely bare, and his skin is everywhere pallid, hard, 
and dusty. This is an exact delineation of the mass of 
the serfs or peasants whom you meet by thousands at 
work along the wharves, or on the public buildings, or 
at the highways. They are literally " the hewers of wood 
and drawers of water," and when in the former occupa- 
tion have a huge, broad, short-handled hatchet stuck in 
their girdles ; when in the latter, they move in pairs, car- 
rying an enormous conical bucket, hanging from a bar 
of wood, which rests on a shoulder of each. The droschky 
driver covers his sheepskin with a blue woollen coat, has 
a black velvet collar and a scarlet belt. The domestic 
servants indulge in every variety of fanciful clothing. 
The shopkeeper is more staid in externals, but still pre- 
fers the girdled coat, and is inseparable from beard and 
moustache. The merchants, who are slowly rising in 
the social scale under the auspices of the existing auto- 
crat, are assimilating to the merchants everywhere. Dis- 
tinct from all these, distinct and domineering, are the 
military and nobles, — the military, worthy of personal 



28 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

association only after their ranks have been winnowed ; 
the nobles, spoiled by slavery, are fierce and despotic, 
but hospitable and patriotic. 

1837. November 14. — The French Ambassador, Barante, 
paid us a long visit. He is obviously preparing for a per- 
manent departure. His conversation, always intellectual, 
was peculiarly agreeable this morning. In speaking of 
the comparative characteristics of this country and Eng- 
land, France, and America, he was particularly emphatic 
in pronouncing society in Russia to be listless, sombre, 
and indifferent or unexcitable. In Paris, people had no 
time to note the weather or for sickness. Here time 
hung heavily upon the health and spirits of all but 
the natives, and they were heavier than time itself. He 
gave me a brief notice of the Greek minister, Prince 
Soutzo, who, he said, was in reality unknown to the soil 
of his own country, having sprung from a family of Wal- 
lachia of great distinction, hospodars under Turkish gov- 
ernment, and having spent nearly all his life in Paris. 
He had, however, exhibited great patriotism, made vast 
sacrifices to principle, and stood deservedly high in the 
affections of Greece. 

I asked him whether he was going home to aid in set- 
tling the policy of France as to Constantina. He said it 
required no consultation or settlement: — it was impossi- 
ble, without wasteful expenditure, to colonize Africa: — 
the Arabs could no more be persuaded to turn farmers 
than our Indians could, and no possible benefit could 
result from their colonizing their conquest. 

He was much surprised to hear from me that Texas 
was sufficiently extensive to furnish six or seven new 
and distinct States ultimately to our Union, and pre- 
sumed that all the Eastern and old States would op- 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 29 

pose an annexation which must be followed by the loss 
of political power in the end. He had adopted an idea 
from Galignani, and was astonished at my opinion that 
Texas would, notwithstanding one or two difficulties, be 
soon admitted as a member of the confederacy. 

1837. November 18. — Strangers, on coming to St. 
Petersburg, are apt to be early impressed with the belief 
that they are vigilantly supervised, even in their domes- 
tic recesses and conversations, by the police. Your prin- 
cipal household servants are represented to be secret 
agents of this body, who will affect ignorance of your 
language and great personal fidelity, and yet be knowing 
and dexterous enough to understand and communicate 
everything to their employers. To me it is matter of no 
importance whatever. I have nothing to conceal, and 
entertain no feelings in relation to this government or 
its masters which would betray me into idle talk. Never- 
theless, we all experienced last evening a short fright, 
arising out of this idea, which may make us for the future 
more prudent. Mrs. Dallas had occupied the morning 
in writing to her mother, and had freely expressed some 
sentiments in her letter relating to the Imperial family 
and to Russian society generally; just enough, without 
any harshness, to make the notion of its being seen un- 
pleasant. Called suddenly from her writing, she hastily 
put her manuscript, with other papers, into the drawer 
of the table, and was unable to recur to it again until late 
in the evening. It was not to be found ! Every drawer 
or recess was carefully searched ; every sheet of paper 
was separately examined; behind the sofas, under the 
cushions, on all the tables, in all the rooms, to no pur- 
pose. And yet certainly, most certainly, she recollected 
having put it in one of the table-drawers, and with some 

4 



30 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

pages of ruled paper, which were there untouched. I 
began to be worried. I asked to have the contents re- 
peated to me, and did not quite relish the possibility of 
their being inspected. We have an English nurse, just 
now in a state of discontent. Could she have seized it 
for mischievous purposes? We have a new, dark-eyed, 
silent, and sagacious porter. He had obviously, while we 
were at dinner, been in the parlor, and had changed the 
candles on the very table. Could he have pocketed the 
missing sheet ? The police-office and its instruments now 
became bugbears. I had a notion of apprising the whole 
household of what we found was abstracted, to demand 
its restoration in the course of ten minutes, or to dismiss 
every servant at one fell swoop ? Mrs. Dallas began her 
perplexities, and looked upon the probability of its having 
been stolen with great alarm. After working ourselves 
gradually, by reflecting upon the possible consequences 
and by repeatedly searching in all places fruitlessly, into 
fever heat, when on the point of giving up all hope, I 
suggested the expediency of taking out entirely all the 
table-drawers and of looking into their cavities, as the 
paper might have got shoved behind the drawers, or 
might adhere to the surface of the table which it came 
in contact with. Sure enough, there it was, according 
to the last suggestion, sticking to the under surface of 
the table, and remaining, therefore, wholly invisible when 
the drawer itself was opened or taken out. Though at 
once relieved from our solicitudes, we deduced from the 
incident a lesson of prudence as to what we committed 
to paper which will not readily be forgotten ; while at 
the same time it struck me that similar occurrences 
might often awaken an exaggerated and false estimate 
of police interference. 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 3 1 

1837. November 20. — While riding yesterday, at about 
3 p.m., we noticed that the bridge which crosses the Neva 
near the Winter Palace had been floated loose along the 
opposite shore; and this we conceived to be proof that 
the ice was coming down from Lake Ladoga, and that 
the police of the city were making the necessary prepara- 
tions. This morning the river is filled with large masses 
of ice, extending nearly from shore to shore, the bridge 
from St. Isaac's Square to Vasiliosteff has been removed, 
and the boats alone now afford means of communication. 

1837. November 22. — Lamartine, in his "Voyage en 
Orient," describes a semi-official attendant or body-ser- 
vant among the Arabs very much resembling the chasseur 
in this country. The carvas were originally designated 
by the Sultan to wait on Ambassadors and distinguished 
travellers; they subsequently were attached to consulates. 
I am not aware that the chasseur here derives his pecu- 
liar functions from the government ; he is, however 
universally and uniformly recognized, and is exclusively 
associated with diplomatic representation. 

1837. November 23. — We go to-night to our first Rus- 
sian entertainment since the dinner at Peterhoff, — the 
soiree of Count and Countess LevachofF. We are invited 
to come at ten o'clock, — and I presume we will reach 
there by eleven. 

1837. November 24. — We remained at Count Leva- 
chofF s till between three and four this morning. He is an 
aide-de-camp of the Emperor, a cavalry general, a noble- 
man of great wealth, and his personal manners recom- 
mend him strongly, at least to a stranger like myself. 
His palace (for it cannot be otherwise called) is exceed- 
ingly splendid, and enjoys the reputation of being one 
of the most beautiful in this city of palaces. The Countess 



32 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

has the look and deportment of an accomplished and un- 
affected American lady, and often reminded me of Mrs. 
Robert Morris, subsequently Mrs. Bloodgood. Both of 
them speak the English language fluently. I counted 
eleven rooms, of various sizes and furniture, opened for 
the entertainment, all brilliant with light, paintings, and 
decoration. The two largest rooms were appropriated 
to dancing and card-playing. The order of arrivals and 
departures at the front door was protected by hussars in 
couples, and a shoal of most gorgeously-liveried servants 
superintended every detail within-doors. The Count, in 
full military costume, met us at the drawing-room door, 
took Mrs. Dallas from my arm, and led her to the Countess 
and then to a seat. I was cordially saluted by several 
whom I had visited but not seen, and among them by my 
old acquaintance Poletica, who is remarkably unchanged 
in appearance. Many of the diplomatic corps were there, 
— the Austrian, Wiirtemberger, Neapolitan, Englishman, 
Dane, Sardinian, Saxon, Swede. The company was, 
however, not large, perhaps not exceeding one hundred 
and fifty. The Grand Duke Michel was present. I re- 
marked as very striking in figure and expression, Count 
Orloff. We supped at about two in the morning. Count 
and Countess Woronzow invited us to their soiree of 
Thursday next. 

Count Nesselrode, though he still abstains from his 
bureau, sent me an invitation, this morning, to dinner on 
Tuesday next ; and we have all received the tickets for 
the " Assemblies de la Noblesse" which are commencing. 

1837. November 25. — I went to-night to the "Assem- 
blee de Noblesse." The rooms, nearly opposite the 
Church of St. Kazan, are sufficiently elegant and com- 
modious ; the ball-room is, perhaps, very fine. Of the 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 33 

company that convened, however, I formed an unpleasant 
impression ; they were secondary in every aspect, — a sort 
of shabby genteel. One of the directors, himself a noble- 
man, stated that nobody was present, and he hoped that 
I would bring my family to the next, when the Imperial 
family were expected to attend. I left the palace in the 
course of an hour, Sunday having hardly begun. 

1837. November 30. — The soirie of Countess Woron- 
zow Daschkaw was resorted to this evening. We went 
at half-past ten and remained till four in the morning. I 
met here, and was introduced to him by Count Nessel- 
rode, Count Orloff, whose fine military figure and manner 
seem to justify the high favour he is known to enjoy with 
the Emperor. Most of the diplomatic corps were present, 
among them the Marquis and Marchioness Villafranca. 

1837. December 3. — The weather has remained open 
and mild : a slight fall of snow during last night gives a 
general appearance of winter, and for the first time the 
little sledges are in numbers substituted for the drosch- 
kies, but unless the wind shifts to the north we can have 
but little frost yet. 

My presentation to the Grand Duchess Helen, wife of 
the Grand Duke Michel, took place at the palace at two 
o'clock. On entering the door, I was saluted by a com- 
pany of dismounted dragoons, and ushered up-stairs 
through rows of attendants into a magnificent hall of 
reception, supported in its vaulted and richly-painted 
ceiling by noble columns of white mock marble. Here 
I remained in conversation with two officers of the house- 
hold, and admiring the walls and other ornaments of the 
apartments. I was particularly struck with the glow- 
ing and immense paintings executed on the milk-white 
and glossy walls, and with the uncommonly beautiful 

4* 



34 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

mosaic floor. After waiting there about twenty minutes, 
I was marshalled through a suite of rooms until I reached 
one of special elegance, in which the Grand Duchess 
advanced to meet me with much animation and grace. 
We stood in conversation for fifteen or twenty minutes. 
Her dress was in nothing striking, except a single enor- 
mous pearl of great purity which hung directly in the 
centre of her forehead below the parting of her hair. 
We spoke about my family; about her travels during 
the summer; about the rapid improvements making 
in Russia under the auspices of the present Emperor; 
about the annexation of Texas to our Union, and about 
the possibility of Canada following in the same course. 
In all she manifested much intelligence and vivacity. 

1837. December 4. — My set of silver salts and cruets 
were purchased this morning for one thousand and 
thirty roubles ; and I think I thus adequately furnish my 
dining-table, having already procured English glass, 
French porcelain, Russian lights, and English cutlery. 
My aim has been to unite elegance and taste with as 
much simplicity as the subject-matter would admit. As 
to vying, even remotely, with the gorgeous extravagance 
exhibited by the principal members of the circle in which 
as a national representative I necessarily must move in 
this capital, the attempt would be equally out of char- 
acter, in bad taste, and utterly futile. 

I went, accompanied by my daughter, to a soiree at the 
Countess Laval's. It is one of the handsomest and most 
richly-furnished houses in St. Petersburg. Nothing 
more strongly shows the magic of wealth. The Count 
is said to have come here originally as a French hair- 
dresser, and certainly looks the origin at this moment 
admirably; he is short, mean, and insignificant in ap- 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 35 

pearance. The Countess is the personation of an in- 
dented toad-stool, — fat, coarse, short, and ugly. They are, 
however, both very kind persons and seem deservedly 
favourites. He is one of the four " Maitres de la Cour." 
His establishment presents many points worthy of ad- 
miration. It is on the largest scale of private dwellings 
in a city where all such dwellings are palaces; its 
various apartments are adorned with the utmost profu- 
sion and with great judgment; its largest saloon, an 
oblong square of about thirty-five by twenty-five feet, 
with vaulted ceiling, and walls covered with deep crim- 
son satin drapery, is hung with choice paintings of the 
best Italian and French masters; adjoining this is an 
apartment of about the same dimensions, whose floor is 
ancient mosaic from the Island of Caprese, and whose 
sides are crowded with specimens of antique sculpture, 
vases, and curiosities. I noticed especially here a most 
exquisite antique Gorgon's head, another of Augustus 
Caesar, and several that I could not identify, — the money 
expended in this single room must have been incalcula- 
ble; beyond this, and after passing a narrow passage, I 
reached a most beautiful boudoir, modelled with the 
most elaborate exactness, in all its colours, shape, size, 
and arrangements, after an excavated chamber of Pompeii. 
This seemed the pet piece of the Count and Countess, 
both of whom were eloquent in pointing out its peculiar 
beauties. There was one display at this entertainment 
which I have not seen at others, except at the two public 
balls of the Mineral Springs and " L'Assemblee de la 
Noblesse :" in the first of the range of saloons as you 
entered, one side of the room was occupied by an im- 
mense table covered with all sorts of delicacies, ices, 
jellies, fruit, cakes, sugar-plums of all colors and fanta- 



36 DIAR\ OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

sies, coffee, chocolate, wines, liqueurs, and which was the 
fountain whence the attendants afterwards distributed on 
waiters to the company, or to which the gentlemen 
resorted whenever inclined for refreshment. Cards, par- 
ticularly, if not exclusively, whist, were playing in four 
or five saloons; and Countess Laval, with entire compo- 
sure, executed a most skilful game of chess with Count 
Litta in the very midst of her guests in the most 
thronged saloon. The party was what is here called a 
rout, — without dancing, — beginning at eleven o'clock 
and closing in less than two hours, and it was composed 
chiefly of married ladies from thirty to seventy years of 
age. I should not suppose there were four girls, as we 
would call them, present. The dresses were exceedingly 
handsome, but some of the matrons shocked my Ameri- 
can notions not a little by a most profuse display of the 
bust. Conversation does not seem to be as much a 
pursuit as it should be ; generally speaking, gentlemen 
arranged themselves in a dark mass on one side of the 
saloon, respectfully and vacantly gazing at the ladies, who 
were closely packed on divans, ottomans, or sofas, on the 
other side or in the centre. The diplomatic body are an 
exception to this remark, and seem disposed to make 
themselves agreeable to their fair associates. 

1837. December 10. — The Neva was thronged with ice, 
which continued, however, in motion until about three 
o'clock, when it fastened. 

I was yesterday and to-day particularly struck with 
the brilliancy of the moon, which, at about half past 
three p.m., shone with that clear golden light we would 
expect in the United States to see at about nine at 
night. 

1 837. December 1 2. — Yesterday, crowds were constantly 



AT THE COURT OF 7 HE CZAR. 37 

walking over the Neva upon a wooden platform laid on 
the ice, starting near the admiralty. 

1837. December 17. — Correa, the Portuguese charge, 
spent the evening with us, and made himself exceedingly- 
agreeable. He mentioned that General Dearborn had 
been very much liked at Lisbon ; that he dressed with all 
the simplicity of a Quaker, with his long, white hair hang- 
ing about his neck, and was an object of great popular 
deference whenever he appeared in the streets ; that the 
King was extremely partial to him, always shook him 
by the hand as a personal friend, and on one occasion 
begged him to accept as a present a gold snuff-box, sur- 
rounded with brilliants, estimated at a value of forty 
thousand pounds, but the. General declined, as officially 
prohibited, and, being pressed to take something as an 
old friend, said he would accept the old gloves of his 
majesty, which were accordingly given to him. The 
snuff-box was afterwards reduced in its costliness and 
presented to another member of the diplomatic corps. 

1837. December 18. — This being St. Nicholas Day, and 
therefore the " Name's Day" of the Emperor, it is the sub- 
ject of universal celebration. Count Nesselrode has a 
multitudinous dinner at the " Hotel du Ministere d'Af- 
faires Etrangeres," to which I am obliged to go, " Selon 
les Usages," in grand uniform ; and in the evening, as I 
was formally apprised by the secretary of the court, Mr. 
Maikailoff, some days ago, the Ball of the Nobility will 
be attended by the Grand Duchess Helen, and all are 
expected to dress their loftiest. The city, generally, also 
undergoes illumination at night, and the Neva consecra- 
tion. 

1837. December 19. — At Count Nesselrode's dinner, 
yesterday, all the diplomatic corps attended except Lu- 



38 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

chenfeldt, of Bavaria. On such occasions established eti- 
quette requires that Ambassadors and Ministers should 
take their seats at table according to the precedence 
arising from the dates of their respective arrivals at this 
Court, Ambassadors, of course, as higher in grade, 
being before Ministers. I took my place next to Mr. 
Milbanke below, and, as I presumed, above Count Schim- 
melpenninck. In the course of the evening, after we had 
risen from the table, the Dutchman informed me that he 
disputed the right of Mr. Milbanke to the precedence 
he assumed ; that he had spoken to Count Nesselrode 
upon the subject, and to Mr. Brunoff, and that both these 
gentlemen were inclined to agree with him in the views 
he expressed, and promised to communicate to him their 
formal decision on the point. The result would, of 
course, affect me by advancing me one step in the line 
should the conclusion be against the British representa- 
tive. The grounds of his proceeding are simply these. 
Lord Durham was Ambassador, and, on quitting Russia, 
he left Milbanke charge d'affaires, an appointment since 
confirmed by the British government. As charge left by 
an Ambassador, Milbanke ranks as a Minister Plenipoten- 
tiary, and took that rank before either I or Count Schim- 
melpenninck reached here; but he is not an Envoy Ex- 
traordinary, and that is our most important and distinctive 
grade, and the Count considers it essentially higher than 
the mere Minister Plenipotentiary, and therefore entitling 
us to precedence. It would seem, also, that Milbanke is 
even Minister Plenipotentiary more by a sort of diplo- 
matic brevet than by actual commission in the line ; and 
his personal deportment appears to have kindled a dis- 
position to pull him a little back from the forward posi- 
tion he too boldly takes. 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 39 

At the " Assemblee de la Noblesse" all attended, in 
honour of the day, " en grand costume." The effect was 
striking, but somewhat fantastical. 

1837. December 22. — The Imperial standard waves 
this morning over the Winter Palace, — the silent proc- 
lamation that the autocrat is again here. He probably 
arrived during the night. 

1837. December 25. — Received two New York news- 
papers, confirming the entire defeat of the Democracy in 
that State at the elections in November. Is this State, 
then, relapsing into its former character for instability 
and veering? I remember well that, until the success of 
General Jackson, the politicians of Pennsylvania scarcely 
ever thought it worth while to count New York one way 
or the other: they had an invincible impression that 
she pursued no principle, and was just as liable, in fol- 
lowing the lead of her clannish families, to be against as 
for the Democracy. She has relapsed — or collapsed — 
with a vengeance, and I do not see how her " favourite 
son" can reconcile it to himself to proceed without her. 
He must either abandon his post or his policy ; and of 
the two, I mistake his character if he would not prefer 
the former. Were I in his position, I should be irresist- 
ibly impelled to this course : first, because it would in- 
dicate a just submission to the voice of popular suffrage; 
second, because it would be an eclatante manifestation 
of his disinterestedness as to office, and perfect sincerity 
as to the opinions heretofore expressed ; third, because, as 
a stroke of policy, effective by its novelty, it would prob- 
ably make its actor the rallying-point of a new struggle 
in which I could not doubt ultimate and glorious triumph. 
It would be analogous, though in a much wider sphere 
and upon less purely party grounds, to the withdrawal 



40 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

of Mr. Rives from the Senate and his victorious return. 
But my impulses are not exactly such as govern states- 
men generally : so nothing of this sort need be looked 
for; and I must confess that I fear being mortified by 
finding the administration quarrelling among themselves, 
weakened by changes, and timidly yielding to the panic : 
I hope not, but I dread. Suppose, however, that this 
extraordinary and unexpected result in New York be 
but the forerunner of an overthrow to the Republican 
party in the Union, and the reinstallation of Federalism. 
The calamity will be great as regards the character and 
progress of our institutions : we shall retrograde rapidly ; 
but the evil cannot, in the nature of things, last long, and 
the people may be taught a wholesome lesson of moder- 
ation for the future. As to my particular self, — although, I 
dare say, this result would be thought specially mortifying 
to my feelings and disastrous to my fortunes, — I should 
really not care for an opportunity to prove that sunshine 
is not essential to my well-being in any point of view. 

1837. December 26. — I dined to-day with Prince Bu- 
tera, the Neapolitan Minister. He married a Russian 
widow of immense wealth, owning productive gold mines 
in Siberia. His residence on the English Quay is one 
of the most splendid establishments I have visited. 
There were present the Austrian and French Ambassa- 
dors, the Prussian, English, and Dutch Ministers, Count 
Woronzow, Count Matuzewitch, the French secretary 
of legation, the Marquis de Villafranca, and a French 
attache. The table was brilliant and the dinner exqui- 
site, especially the dish of Neapolitan macaroni and 
the glass of Imperial Tokay. During the repast much 
conversation of a lively character took place respecting 
Madame Taglioni, whose dancing, last evening, enchanted 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 4 1 

the Emperor and Empress. On this topic the Austrian 
was poetically eloquent, and described the feet of the 
actress as actually speaking. He insisted, also, that her 
extraordinary length of arms greatly contributed to her 
grace and activity, being admirable substitutes for the 
balance-pole employed by tight-rope dancers. The 
Marquis de Villafranca and I, after being introduced, 
had a long and interesting confab. He is not an unapt- 
looking representative of the Spanish Pretender, Don 
Carlos. Of about forty years of age, short figure, round 
limbs, jet-black hair and eyes, bushy moustache, and 
swarthy complexion, he looks the young but grave 
grandee. He has heretofore represented his country 
at Naples and Vienna in different capacities, and has now 
been absent from it for eight years. He is modest and 
unassuming, and seemed quite conscious of the peculi- 
arity of his position here. He had been well acquainted 
in early life with the Yrujos ; recognized the old Mar- 
quis from the manner in which I described his figure 
and gait, and said that his son, a man of decided talents, 
after being employed abroad, was likely to be distin- 
guished as a statesman at home. He did not exactly 
know how either the Yrujos or the Tacons sided in the 
present civil war in Spain. 

We prepared, this evening, the " Travels of Miss Mar- 
tineau in America" as a present for the Grand Duchess 
Helen, as she particularly requested a loan of the book 
from Mrs. Dallas, at her presentation. I don't half like 
giving circulation to the production, as if specially sanc- 
tioned by me, although it certainly has much merit, and 
is, with some exceptions, reasonably fair ; but it cannot 
be avoided without making the matter of much more 
importance and formality than is at all necessary. 

5 



42 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

I crossed and recrossed the Neva upon the ice to-day, 
and was amused by seeing the preparations making by 
a body of men for an extensive skating plain. Trees 
were planted in the ice on the line of demarcation ; some 
benches were already stationed ; the snow was shovelled 
and wheeled off, and through a hole cut water was pro- 
cured and thrown in buckets over the appointed space, 
thus securing a smooth and clean surface. On returning 
home, while walking carelessly with Philip along the 
English Quay, a single-horsed small sledge approached 
at a rapid pace, with apparently one of the numberless 
military officers in it, whom we see in all directions, en- 
veloped in a light-blue cloth cloak, and with cocked hat 
and feather, and speeding exactly in the same unattended 
and simple manner. I did not notice, much less recog- 
nize, the person in the sledge until after he had made 
the usual gesture with his hand (putting it to the side of 
his hat by his forehead and there retaining it), and had 
nodded repeatedly at me, with smiles, as if endeavouring 
to make me know him. I had just time to whip my hat 
off and turn towards him most respectfully : it was the 
Emperor of all the Russias ! He flew rapidly by, and I 
observed that all who were in his track seemed aware 
almost by instinct of his approach, and doffed their hats 
and caps instantly. Here was the monarch of myriads 
— the despotic arbiter of life and death and liberty and 
law — actually and visibly enjoying the sleigh-ride in a 
style as entirely unassuming and fearless and natural as 
would be chosen by any one of his subjects or slaves. 
The constitutional king, Louis Philippe, could not ven- 
ture on this without the music of whistling bullets being 
awakened, and even a king or queen of England would 
run some risk of violence or rudeness. Yet such is the 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 43 

every-day practice of Nicholas the First. He is probably- 
bold in the consciousness that he strives to do his duty, or 
the excessive degradation of his slaves prevents the least 
hazard of a generous aspiration and struggle for liberty. 

1837. December 27. — Dr. Lefevre's second lecture on 
chemistry was delivered this evening, and I accompanied 
three of my children to it. At its close we went to Mr. 
Law's, the English clergyman, nephew of Lord Ellen- 
borough and our Thomas Law, and remained till mid- 
night. My daughters danced to the music of the piano, 
while I took my seat at a card-table and won from his 
reverence at whist ten roubles ! How strangely different 
are the religious prejudices of different countries! Mr. 
Law dresses in black, and in that alone, when out of the 
pulpit, differs from any of the crowd of gentlemen who 
may meet in the ball-room, the theatre, or at the green 
baize ! 

1837. December 28. — Dined at Prince Hohenlohe's; 
meeting the French Ambassador, his secretary, D'Andre, 
and his attache, Marquis Darchiac, the Neapolitan Min- 
ister, General Narischkin, Count Borch, General D'Apot- 
chinine, Mr. Rianhardt, and another gentleman whom I 
did not know. The service of china was singular : a 
first set, for substantial eating, of English, light-blue fig- 
ured Liverpool ware ; the second set, for jellies, etc., a 
splendid series of paintings on porcelain, representing the 
principal views of Paris ; and a third set, very delicately 
finished, seemingly of Dresden, each plate containingacol- 
oured picture of a village or chateau. This last struck me 
as peculiar, and I examined the back of the plate and found 
that all the scenery and houses represented, numerous 
and various as they were, were described as " Appartenant 
au Prince de Hohenlohe." As I sat near him, I expressed 



44 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

my admiration of a delineation of an ancient chateau, 
beneath which were written in gilt letters " Orient" and 
he immediately said it was the place of his birth. 

As to the cookery, it was signalized by one dish, " Un 
ponding a la Richelieu;" the carte lay near me, and I 
discerned its title. The rest was good, but not wonderful, 
not as recherche as Buteras. I have yet to accompany 
the ladies to Count Woronzow's soiree. 

1837. December 29. — We were gratified last night by 
finding the Emperor among the guests at Count Woron- 
zow's. He had told the Count when at Moscow that he 
would attend his parties, provided that they began at 
nine o'clock ; the Count feared that was an impossibility : 
his Majesty went, however, at the hour he had indicated, 
and was alone until nearly eleven ! Fashion is more 
potent than autocracy. When I entered the room where 
he was, I perceived him to be in conversation with Count 
Schimmelpenninck, and forbore to advance: he caught 
my eye, left the Count, and coming towards me we shook 
hands, when he observed that he had met me two days 
ago ; that I obviously did not recognize him, but that he 
never saw any person for five minutes whom he after- 
wards forgot. 

The Winter Palace is jnst reported in flames ! 

1837. December 30. — The great Winter Palace is now 
a quadrangular stack of blackened and gloomy walls ; 
still, however, at twelve o'clock to-night blazing in every 
direction with almost unabated fury. As a spectacle, 
it is more grand and imposing than any exhibition I ever 
beheld. The Emperor has ordered all dangerous efforts 
to arrest or extinguish the flames to be abandoned, and 
the noble pile, with its gorgeous and rich contents, is left, 
surrounded by an army in full costume, to consume itself 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 45 

away. The whole scene is the celebration of the obse- 
quies of some mighty monarch. As yet, the origin of 
this calamity is merely matter of conjecture and rumour ; 
but one story has an air of verisimilitude, and is gener- 
ally credited. Some persons are said to have been en- 
gaged in the apothecary's apartment in making chemical 
experiments, and having accidentally ignited a quantity 
of fluid, the blaze extended itself and gradually became 
irrepressible and inextinguishable. The Emperor was, 
at the time, in the theatre, witnessing the graces of Tag- 
lioni, and hurrying home, he arrived at the palace at the 
moment when the fire burst forth from several points. 
This immense conflagration has in no manner disturbed 
the general tranquillity of the city. No bells have rung, 
no outcry has been made, no noisy engines have rattled 
along the streets, and no crowds have been collected. 
The process of supervising it being allotted to the military 
and police, the operation has been conducted with the 
silence, system, and despatch by which those two depart- 
ments are characterized. 

I did not retire to bed this morning until some of the 
household servants were bustling about preparing for 
the day. Circumstances, over which we sat brooding, 
had excited vague alarms in all the family. In despotic 
governments, fears of conspiracy and change are always 
more or less afloat. The agents of the police keep 
these fears alive, as necessary to their own importance. 
Some of the French newspapers had contained a state- 
ment that a plot against the Emperor was being actively 
followed up. He went to Sarsko-Selo for some days, 
on his return hither, instead of taking up his quarters at 
once, as he was wont to do, at the Winter Palace. Then 
he moved about without attendance or parade, as witness 

5* 



46 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

the manner in which he appeared at Count Woronzow's 
soiree; and we recollected, furthermore, many harsh 
things said of his extreme and passionate violence in the 
reviews at Wosnesensk, and especially towards a general 
officer of noble rank, whose badges of honour he rudely 
tore from his breast with his own hand in the presence 
of the troops. All these ideas, when aggravated by the 
light of the burning palace, would probably have given 
way to farther reflection, had not, as if to invigorate and 
confirm them, a notice been sent me from the Imperial 
Guard that two other large fires had broken out in dis- 
tant quarters of the city ; that a doubt existed whether 
they were not the explosion of some general plan, and 
that I was desired to be vigilant in the care of my own 
household. I was on the point of revisiting the palace a 
second time, when I met the soldier at the door who gave 
this notice to my servant verbally. We were now coun- 
tenanced, in some degree, in indulging our imaginations, 
and we very soon worked our way into the midst of a 
revolution and the conflagration of the city. I sent for 
the secretary of legation to take charge of the archives 
of the mission, stationed my servants at the points most 
suited for effective lookouts, and tranquillized the family 
as well as I could. The extraordinary silence that pre- 
vailed was, however, the great restorer of intellectual 
composure, and I got all to bed by two o'clock, except 
Mr. Chew and myself, who remained up and on the qui 
vive. 

EXTRACT FROM A LETTER. 

" Dear Maria, — The vast Winter Palace of the Czar 
has been blazing, unchecked and irrepressible, for 
sixteen hours, and will soon be a mass of black ruins ! 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 47 

The richest, strongest, proudest regal residence of Europe 
is no more ! 

" The fire broke out at about ten o'clock last evening. 
Jumping into a sleigh, I reached the palace square in ten 
minutes, but a military cordon was already formed, and I 
could advance no farther. Silence the most profound 
reigned everywhere, — no outcry, no bells, no roaring of 
engines, no alarm of any sort; nothing below to be seen 
but the flitting of police-officers on sledges, and the 
hurrying of coaches and four to the palace doors, while, 
above, the bright volumes of flame, augmenting and 
spreading every moment, illuminated the whole heavens 
and shed a most disastrous glare over the city. Even 
curiosity seemed to be lulled, for, except at one or two 
street corners, not a group to be seen ! 

"As soon as we had breakfasted this morning, the car- 
riage was ordered, and we have en masse just returned 
from gazing upon the still blazing windows of a pile 
within whose walls we had promised ourselves a succes- 
sion of delights during the present winter. Its interesting 
and precious wing or detachment, the Hermitage, built 
by Catherine II., and the repository of the finest existing 
collection of paintings, jewels, and curiosities, has been 
preserved by early cutting away the flying gallery which 
united it to the palace. The fire seems to relish its 
dainty food, and will not quit the repast before the expi- 
ration of at least forty-eight hours. It would be idle to 
speculate thus early on the origin of this disaster. Some 
pretend that it burst out of the four corners of the building 
at the same moment, and others that it was kindled just 
beneath the Emperor's chamber. The fact is, that his 
Majesty was at the theatre witnessing the graces of Tag- 
lioni ; and that if a design existed against his person, it 



48 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

was developed at a most unseasonably early hour of the 
night. Nor can I see any motive for plotting against the 
present sovereign ; such a plot must necessarily be in the 
hands of the nobility and army, for as to the mass here, 
they are as yet nothing. What good can the Boyars or 
the soldiers promise themselves from removing an able, 
indefatigable, and ambitious chief, in order to hasten the 
reign of his son, who is young, amiable, and rather dull? 
They cannot hope by any possible change to get a sov- 
ereign so admirably fitted for Russia in her actual con- 
dition, and so capable of pushing onward her European 
ascendency. It is worthy to be told of him that when 
he reached his burning palace, after quitting the theatre, 
and heard that two or three men had been killed in the 
effort to extinguish the flames, he instantly exclaimed, 
' No more of that; human life is infinitely more valuable 
than human treasure. Let the building consume, and 
only prevent its extending.' The worth of this can 
only be fairly appreciated by those who know the incal- 
culable amount of wealth that has been expended upon 
and amassed within the palace. The value of the con- 
tents is estimated at forty millions of pounds sterling ! 

" The disquietude created in my household by this 
event was considerable, and has scarcely yet subsided. 
Circumstances gave it intensity; and as we talked them 
over, our conviction became rooted that the town was des- 
tined to conflagration, and that we were in the midst of 
a revolution. There had been much said of the Empe- 
ror's violence at the reviews of Wosnesensk. Then a 
French newspaper had intimated that a conspiracy was 
tracing. Then on his return to this capital, instead of 
taking up his quarters at the Winter Palace, as he was in 
the habit of doing, he remained at Sarsko-Selo, an Im- 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 49 

perial chateau about fifteen miles in the country ; then, 
again, he had made his appearance at a ball of Count 
Woronzovv's the night before, at which we were all 
present, in a manner wholly unexpected, unattended, 
and remarkable ; then, and still worse, two immense 
fires burst out in 'distant quarters of the city, instanta- 
neous with that of the palace ; and worse than all, while 
we pondered over these signs, I received a notice from 
the Municipal Guard that the conflagrations were ex- 
tending; that they did not know whether they were 
accidental or otherwise, and I was requested to be vigi- 
lant in securing my own house. I forthwith summoned 
out of his warm bed, half a mile off, the secretary, to 
stand by the archives and public documents. I stationed 
the chasseur at one point, the porter at another in front, 
and the maitre d'hotel I specially charged with supervi- 
sion of the stable. I remained on the qui vive until five 
in the morning, and though the glow of the sky seemed 
to increase and expand every moment, and I reveried 
myself into the conviction that Maelzel would soon have 
a counterpart of his masterpiece of Moscow, I thought 
I could neither expedite nor retard the catastrophe by 
throwing myself on the bed and forgetting all anxieties 
in sleep." 

1837. December 31. — Dined to-day at the Princess 
Bellozieskoy's, meeting Count and Countess Schimmel- 
penninck, Baron Palmstjerna, General and Countess 
Zukazanet, etc. Our hostess ranks very high in the 
first circle of Russian society. Her family, wealth, and 
hospitality give this distinction, besides being, what is 
esteemed extremely, a maid of honour, a portraiss, to the 
Empress. Everything in her establishment bespeaks 
vast resources, and an inveterate attachment to old fash- 



50 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

ions, old furniture, and massive ornaments. Three sepa- 
rate groups of sporting Cupids of solid silver constituted 
the central decoration of her dining-table, looking pon- 
derous, rich, and beautiful, also. 

1838. January 1. — The incidents of the conflagration 
are rapidly developing and engage at present every 
attention. The number of lives lost is differently stated : 
some carry it up to more than two hundred, others to 
eighty, and a general in actual service on the fatal night 
explicitly assured me that but one man had been killed. 
A body of grenadiers are represented to have perished 
by the sinking of the floor at the moment they were 
endeavouring to remove and save the throne ; and the 
Emperor is said not to have abandoned the hope of 
extinguishing the flames until he saw the staff of his 
standard which surmounted the palace blazing, when he 
lost colour for a moment, and exclaimed that it appeared 
to be the will of God, and he would no longer hazard 
the lives of his officers and subjects in the attempt. He 
disappeared for a short time from among his attendants, 
who were alarmed at his absence: he had gone into his 
private cabinet to collect and secure his private papers, 
with a large bundle of which in his hands he then came 
out. 

There were nearly four thousand permanent occupants 
of this immense palace, many of whom were entirely 
dependent upon this sanctuary for their means of liveli- 
hood. Numbers of young ladies attached to the court 
as maids of honour, or in other capacities, have been sud- 
denly deprived of all their jewels and little property 
and made destitute; several of them, in their extreme 
terror, fled from the scene, and were not found again for 
forty-eight hours, having taken refuge among their 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 5 I 

friends. Much of the most valuable furniture has been 
rescued : the Hermitage, which remains untouched ; 
the interesting collection of portraits which covered the 
walls of the Historical Hall of the Generals was saved 
by a regiment of soldiers who devoted themselves to 
that particular object; the crown jewels were early sent 
away ; the Empress, after her return from the theatre, 
went in person and preserved her own jewelry. The 
splendid malachite vase, esteemed one of the most pre- 
cious articles, resisted by its weight and fastenings the 
exertions of sixty men, and was lost. No attempt was 
made to sever the gorgeous jasper columns which adorned 
the saloons of the Empress from the walls, and they are 
reduced to power. The estimated loss is fifty millions 
of roubles, or ten millions of dollars. Orders have 
already issued for the rebuilding, and the Emperor has 
said that he will reoccupy the palace next September, — 
utterly and absolutely impossible ! 

I am informed this evening that a new ministerial de- 
partment is about to be created, with General Kisileiff at 
its head. It is exclusively designed for the government 
of the private domain and properties of the crown, which 
have latterly been injuriously neglected: a matter of no 
inconsiderable importance, when it is recollected that the 
Emperor actually owns about eighteen millions of peas- 
ants, or one-third of the population of Russia. This 
enormous acquisition has been caused by the loans he 
made after the French war to the nobles, which being 
unpaid were followed by seizures, etc. 

1838. January 5. — In the last received number of 
Galignanis Messenger, I perceive among the reported 
discussions in the British House of Commons that 
Spring Rice, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, defending 



52 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

the extravagance of the civil list against the attacks of 
Mr. Hume, has grossly assailed Mr. Stevenson and 
his legation generally, whom he describes as a "gaudy 
array of American officers" at the levees of the Queen. 
The insult is so gross and so utterly unwarranted, upon 
gentlemen who really sacrifice their own tastes and feel- 
ings in order in some degree to adapt themselves to the 
rules and costumes of the court, that I think our govern- 
ment should notice it. Certainly, were I in London, the 
Chancellor of the Exchequer should explain and retract 
as publicly as he has insulted, or Lord Palmerston should 
know that I would thereafter not again appear at court 
except in plain attire. 

1838. January 6. — The President's message reached 
here to-day. As Congress met on the 4th of December, 
and the message could not well have left New York be- 
fore the 6th, it has crossed the Atlantic and Baltic in 
less than thirty-one days. While on a visit to Count 
Nesselrode this evening, I was told by Count Laval, 
Count Schimmelpenninck, and Count Nesselrode that 
they had received this document. Neither of them, 
however, had read it. The American Minister, who 
ought to have got it first and would have devoured it 
greedily, was obliged to accept a loan of it from one of 
these gentlemen. 

Agreeably to the note I yesterday received from the 
master of ceremonies, Count Woronzow, I was, at two 
o'clock to-day, in due form, presented to his Imperial 
Highness the Grand Duke Michel, eldest brother of the 
Emperor. Mr. Chew accompanied me. Several other 
diplomatic functionaries underwent the same process 
while I was there. The Grand Duke is seen to advantage 
when more closely approached, and impressed me, cer- 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 53 

tainly, more favorably as to his manners, intelligence, and 
personal appearance than he had done before. There was 
nothing in our conversation worthy of a memorandum. 

1838. January 12. — One of the most beautiful objects 
which I have noticed as developed by the frost, in the 
scenery of St. Petersburg, is the monument of Peter the 
Great, in St. Isaac's Square, as it now appears. For two 
or three days there has been much fog in the atmosphere, 
which, collecting uniformly and gently upon the icy-cold 
surface, presents the most splendid creation of frost-work 
imaginable. The granite rock, the rearing horse, and 
the noble rider, are all equally and purely white. The 
shades are finely displayed, and, at a little distance, 
viewed with a dark cloud behind, the whole realizes per- 
fectly a colossal specimen of the newly-invented medal- 
lions. A similar effect is produced upon the Alexandrine 
Column, which looks like an unbroken shaft of exquisite 
alabaster. The rows of trees, too, in front of the Ad- 
miralty and of the Gostenadvor are picturesque beyond 
description. 

1838. January 13. — This is the New- Year's Day of 
Russia, and an active interchange of personal civilities 
takes place. Cards are sent to all one's acquaintances. 

The Court convened at the Palace of the Hermitage 
at twelve o'clock, to celebrate, agreeably to my note and 
invitation, the anniversary of the birth of "Her Higlincss 
Helen." The ceremonial is one deemed peculiarly high 
and important, and the occasion rallies all the Court, all 
the civil functionaries, and all the military officers, to- 
gether with all the maids of honour, to the presence of 
the sovereigns. I made it a point to reach the palace- 
door punctually at the hour designated, accompanied by 
the secretary of the legation. It was instantly obvious 

6 



54 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS, 

that the vast basement accommodations of the Winter 
Palace were no longer to be had. The door, though not 
obstructed, was flanked by throngs of liveried servants, 
whose masters had passed in, and the stairway was equally 
crowded. On my name being announced, an attendant, 
dressed fancifully as a highlander, presented himself as 
our guide, opened the mass of human beings in our way, 
and marshalled us through two lines of richly-apparelled 
gentlemen and officers, along an extensive corridor hung 
with the finest paintings, until we reached the saloon 
appropriated for the meeting of the foreign Ministers. 
On entering, I found the corps diplomatique assembled, 
with the exceptions of Prince Butera and Count Schim- 
melpenninck, who, however, soon appeared. We were 
all in full costume, and Counts Nesselrode and Woron- 
zow were with us. A folding-door at the extremity of 
the room, opposite to where we had come in, being 
suddenly thrown wide, we were gratified by beholding 
an immense array of ladies of honour, dressed in the 
rich and gorgeous national costume which has been pre- 
scribed by the present Empress. The apartment in which 
they stood was large and beautiful, and they moved 
about with ease, and thus exhibited their fine figures 
and finer ornaments to entire advantage. The trains 
were mostly of crimson, purple, or light-blue velvet, 
embroidered in gold or silver, and dragging about two 
yards upon the floor. The head-dress was a variation 
of the ordinary Russian nurse's cap, a peculiarity in 
attire which was very becoming; it was composed of 
every kind of material, and of all varieties of colour. 
Diamonds, pearls, emeralds, topaz, etc., jewelry of all 
descriptions, seemed to have been showered upon each 
of the ladies. We arranged ourselves in a sort of semi- 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 55 

circle, with the Austrian Ambassador at the head, and 
according to the rank of seniority. Our secretaries stood 
behind us respectively, and soon the approach of the 
Emperor and Empress from the interior of the palace 
and through the splendid saloon before us was felt. The 
gentlemen of the bedchamber, with coats covered with 
gold embroidery, white buckskin pantaloons, shoes and 
buckles, and chapeaux and gloves, first moved by us in 
a throng of about two hundred, going out at the opposite 
door, and halting at the entrance. Then came the high 
officers of ceremony, Litta, Laval, Narischkin, etc., with 
their appropriate attire and insignia, who ranged them- 
selves on our left, by the side of Nesselrode and Woron- 
zow. These were immediately followed by the Grand 
Duchess Helen, wife of the Grand Duke Michel, the 
Grand Duchesses Marie and Olga, and their two younger 
nieces, daughters of the Grand Duke Michel, who, in a 
line fronting us, stationed themselves on our right, the 
Grand Duchess Helen being within easy speaking dis- 
tance of Count Ficquelmont. Following these Imperial 
ladies were the Grand Duke Michel and the Grand Duke 
Heir, who, as they entered, turned a little to the left, and 
left the way clear for the Emperor and Empress. As 
their Majesties entered, we all bowed, first to the lady, 
and then to the monarch, and the former advanced to 
the Austrian, offered her hand for the usual kiss, and 
conversed for a few moments. She was victoriously 
equipped : her train of sky-blue velvet, embroidered with 
silver flowers to the depth of two feet, was protected and 
occasionally adjusted by two pages, who followed her in 
the garb of young lieutenants ; her cap, in shape and 
meaning like that worn by the maids of honour, was 
decorated by rows of enormous pearls and diamonds, 



56 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

and appeared to be of cherry-coloured satin; her gown 
was of pink satin, richly embroidered in gold ; and her 
necklace, bracelets, rings, etc., were brilliant in propor- 
tion. As soon as she left the Ambassador, the Emperor 
advanced to him, shook hands cordially, and talked with 
animation. His dress was that of a general, unincum- 
bered by glitter; his coat green, his epaulettes gold, his 
pantaloons white buckskin, fitting tight to the skin, and 
his boots, long hussars, eclipsing Day and Martin by 
their polish. On these occasions, the sovereigns pass 
slowly down the line of diplomats, addressing each as 
they like in succession. When my turn came, I kissed 
the hand of the Empress, and expressed my gratification 
at perceiving that her summer travels had improved her 
health. She said they had on the whole, but just now 
she felt exceedingly unwell; that she had not recovered 
the shock of the conflagration, and was utterly unfit to 
go through the labours of the day; that, according to 
established rule, she would be obliged to receive and 
shake hands with about four thousand persons, and, being 
then scarcely able to stand from faintness, how was she 
to get along? I told her she really looked very differ- 
ently from what she felt, and expressed my sincere 
regret; but that perhaps the delight her presence would 
inspire might react upon herself and give her strength 
and spirit for the scene. The Emperor shook me by the 
hand, and at once asked me why I had not been 'at 
Count Woronzow's party on Thursday; that he had seen 
Mrs. Dallas and my daughters there, but looked in vain 
for me. I told him that I had gone, unfortunately for 
me, too late ; that I had been occupied (as in truth I had 
been in preparing for all the emergencies that might 
arise on my interview with Count Nesselrode) until past 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 57 

eleven o'clock ; but that, had I been aware that I should 
have met his Majesty, no engagement should have de- 
tained me. He said, with a smile, "The plain truth is, 
you are more fashionable than I am." The Empress 
spoke to me in English, the Emperor in French. After 
completing the semicircle, and being then by the door, 
they both turned round, gave a salutation to the corps 
generally, and left the room, their attendants all follow- 
ing. And then came, in one splendid and prolonged 
sweep, with a magnificence of rustle and smile altogether 
overwhelming, the whole cavalcade of maids of honour, 
giving to us a rare and surpassing review. When the 
door closed, we were at liberty to depart, and I hastened 
to my carriage, eager to reach home and divest myself 
of my stiff uniform. 

In the evening we went en masse to a ball given by 
Mrs. Harder, the married daughter of Baron Steiglitz. 
The ladies returned home before midnight, resolved not 
to invade their Sabbath ; but at one o'clock in the morn- 
ing I carried off Mr. Chew to the masquerade at the Great 
Russian Theatre, and continued there, without amuse- 
ment except such as is afforded by an idle, motley, 
musical, and strolling crowd. 

1838. January 15. — Countess Laval's first ball was 
to-night, and we repaired to it. Her magnificent dwell- 
ing expanded still farther than I ever noticed it before : 
a new series of splendid rooms was opened in addition 
to those heretofore described, and ended in a vast dancing- 
saloon, with superbly arched ceiling, lighted by two im- 
mense bronze chandeliers and side candelabras — wax 
candles in all. No supper; but a large apartment with 
two tables kept loaded all the evening with refreshments. 
Card-tables innumerable, and all occupied. 

6* 



58 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

1838. January 18. — La Fete des Rois, and the conse- 
cration of the Neva under a pavilion opposite the Hermi- 
tage and through a hole cut in the ice, performed by the 
Emperor. We started to witness the proceedings at half- 
past eleven in a crowded carriage, and drove at once upon 
the frozen river, and within two hundred yards of the 
pavilion. It was thronged with priests in their sump- 
tuous garments, and with military officers who brought 
their respective banners to be dipped in the holy flood. 
All present stood uncovered while mass was being per- 
formed. The vast multitude collected for the occasion 
could not be less than forty thousand in number, and 
those gathered immediately round the scene of conse- 
cration, and in a compact mass upon the ice, I presumed 
to be about twenty thousand. 

1838. January 19. — At noon went to the Emperor's 
private Palace of Annitchkoff, high up the Nevskoi 
Prospekt, and was in due form presented to his Imperial 
Highness, Monseigneur the Grand Duke Czarovitz Heir, 
with whose fine form, soft countenance, and unaffected 
good manners I was highly prepossessed. His destiny is 
a striking one, but I should much question his possessing 
the bold and resolute qualities of the will, as well as the 
active intellectual ones, without which he must be a sad 
and uncertain successor to his father. We were intro- 
duced by Count Woronzow, who seems to limit his ser- 
vices as grand maitre des ceremonies personally to the 
Emperor, Empress, and heir. Mr. Milbanke preceded me, 
and I was followed by Count de Rantzau, Baron Seebach, 
Marquis de Carrega, Count de Sersay, charge d'affaires, 
and by Mr. Chew, Counts Chazelle, D'Archaic, Gerard, and 
D'Appony, as secretaries and attaches. The whole thing 
was over in less than an hour after quitting my home. 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 59 

Apprised by De Sersay that our diplomatic set of ice 
hi/Is at the country residence of Count Laval were ready, 
I drove Phil and my daughters forthwith to visit them. 
We were all delighted with the amusement. Two par- 
allel and nearly adjoining straight platforms of beauti- 
fully clear and smooth ice, formed of distinct but insep- 
arably united blocks of uniform width and depth, run in 
opposite directions for perhaps two or three squares, and 
rise gradually at their opposite extremes fifty or sixty 
feet high into the upper chambers of two fanciful pavil- 
ions : the line separating the plains is a mound of soft 
and clean snow, of sufficient elevation to prevent it being 
easily surmounted in the progress of the sport, and the 
outer boundaries are similarly composed. Very small 
and exquisitely neat and showy sledges are employed, 
with runners generally of polished steel, and with light 
and narrow cushions of differently coloured velvet, or 
worked worsted, or red morocco; each accommodates 
two persons, and a lady may seat herself in front of a 
gentleman, with her feet a little lifted and pointed the 
course she is going : the start from the pavilion is pre- 
cipitous, and, of course, requires no external impetus; 
the velocity is extreme during the greater part of the 
transit; the course is governed by the gentleman, whose 
hands are covered with thick, stuffed gloves or gauntlets, 
and who, leaning a little back, by the slightest touch 
upon the ice guides the vehicle with the nicety and pre- 
cision which characterize the effect of a rudder upon a 
skiff; the sledge is arrested gently or abruptly, according 
to the skill of its manager, at the end of the plain and 
at the foot of the other pavilion, into which the parties 
mount by a stairway with their feathery apparatus, and 
taking a fresh start in the reverse direction shoot back 



60 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

to the foot of the pavilion whence they first issued. The 
going and return may occupy two or three minutes, and 
seemed to be accompanied with great exhilaration and 
delight to the voyagers. The cold was severe, and we 
had somewhat too much wind; but my children, who 
immediately and fearlessly engaged in the excitement, 
were much pleased. There is no real danger, though 
awkwardness and failure in the descent may cause vexa- 
tion, as they give rise to loud mirth in the spectators. 

1838. January 2C. — Went to the ice-hills, but the 
weather was too cold and windy for the amusement. 

Dined at the Austrian Ambassador's. Met there the 
Countess des Champs and her nephew, Baron Palmstjerna, 
Baron Seebach, Colonel Terchky, who leaves for the Cau- 
casus in two days, Count D'Appony, Kaiserfeldt, and two 
other officers whose names I do not know. Madame 
Hitroff took the seat of her absent hostess, whose ill 
health will not permit her to be at table. Madame Hit- 
roff is the daughter of the illustrious Kutusoff, who re- 
sisted and defeated the invasion of Napoleon in 1812-13. 
She bears a striking resemblance to her father, but is 
not handsome enough to be recognized as the mother 
of Countess Ficquelmont. 

1838. January 23. — Dined at Baron Palmstjerna's, 
the Swedish Minister's, meeting the Austrian Ambassa- 
dor, the Wiirtemberg do., the Dutch do., and a number 
of Russian gentlemen, among whom I knew only Baron 
Brunoff, Count Woronzow, Mr. Narischkin, the two 
brothers Prince Dolgorouky and Prince Dondankoff 
Korsakoff. In the course of conversation, the Austrian 
told us an animated anecdote of his crossing the Alps 
on a particular occasion, just after the road on which he 
was travelling had been completely overwhelmed by an 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 6 1 

extensive avalanche ; that the peasantry perceived that 
it would be an almost endless job to remove the snow 
by hauling in carts, and therefore resolved to tunnel it ; 
and in fact had cut a square avenue directly through a 
distance of two hundred feet, that his coachman drove 
straight forward, and that his caleche, being an inch or 
two higher than the excavation, peeled off with great 
regularity from the top that quantity of snow, so that he 
was completely buried in his own vehicle when he 
emerged from the tunnel. He says modes of directing 
avalanches, so as to make them in their fall project 
beyond and pass over the traveller, have been success- 
fully employed of late years. 

At half-past seven, I repaired to Count Nesselrode's, 
with Mrs. Dallas and Julia. It was a grand and select ball 
to the Imperial family, and the early hour of meeting 
was designated to suit the health and medical advisers 
of the Empress. The two sovereigns, with their son the 
heir, and the Grand Duchess Marie, and the Grand Duke 
Michel, arrived at about eight, and when the company 
had, in expectation, collected in the dancing-room. They 
instantly on entering led off a polonaise, the Emperor 
with Countess Nesselrode, the Empress with the Austrian 
Ambassador, and all who could procure walking partners 
joined the procession, which wound its way through the 
suite of apartments twice or thrice. I first led Countess 
Schimmelpenninck and then Countess Laval. The Em- 
press formed a cotillon at the head of the room, and 
danced repeatedly with much apparent spirit and enjoy- 
ment. She participated also in the frolic and waltzing 
of the mazurka at the end of the evening. The cordial 
manner in which both the Emperor and Empress ad- 
dressed me, and the length of time each remained speak- 



62 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

ing to me, seemed to produce quite a sensation in the 
crowded and brilliant circle, to whom I was but partially 
known, and to whom my plain blue coat and white cravat 
must have appeared singularly unattractive. The Em- 
peror, among other ways of indicating his disposition, 
raised his voice several keys louder than usual, and said to 
me, "You are the first gentleman that has ever induced 
me thus publicly to speak English. I hope you will now 
undertake to teach me, by frequent conversations, how 
to speak it well." " With all my heart," was my reply, 
" though you really speak it so distinctly and correctly 
already, that I have little or nothing to teach. I will, 
however, undertake anything, in order to be frequently 
honoured by your attention." Shortly after this inter- 
view, the Grand Duke crossed one of the longest rooms, 
came directly up to me, and shook hands. He said he 
had met me the day before yesterday, while he was in 
a sledge, and I on the English Quay, and that I had not 
recognized him. " How is it possible for me, an utter 
stranger, to know you when, without a single attendant, 
you drive along like any private person, muffled up com- 
pletely in your cloak and covering your face from the 
cold? As soon as you lifted your hand, and thus in 
some degree uncovered your face, I hope your Highness 
perceived that I knew you instantly." " No doubt, no 
doubt. The truth is, I prefer moving about without 
escort. I think we are'the only reigning family in Eu- 
rope who attempt it. It is impossible for me, as a mili- 
tary man, to leave off my uniform, and to divest myself 
of these tell-tale ornaments (epaulettes and orders), but 
I should like to avoid the notoriety consequent upon 
them." The Empress asked me as to the personal ap- 
pearance of the Queen of England, saying, " I hope she 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 63 

will be great, for she cannot be beautiful. A queen must 
be tall. A short queen is unfortunate." 

All the diplomatic body were present, the Austrian 
alone in his uniform. Mr. Milbanke treats the Canada 
affair as a light matter, already ended. I told him he 
was too sanguine ; there was obviously greater concert 
and enthusiasm among the insurgents than he imagined. 
" But what can they do ?" said he. " They have no army, 
and, as soon as spring comes, we shall have a force of 
twenty thousand men there." " That," said I, " will be 
both very expensive and very formidable." He was 
obviously not well informed as to the character of the 
Canadian population, nor as to the measures of his own 
government to repress the insurrection, and was drawing 
upon that delightful braggadocio confidence with which 
Englishmen, in everything and everywhere, anticipate and 
predict the success of their country. 

Our supper, at half-past eleven, was as rich, recherche, 
and gorgeous as possible. Prince Narischkin told me 
that he had himself purchased at Paris the golden and 
malachite ornaments of the table, and had given ninety- 
five thousand roubles for them. He subsequently sold 
them to the Emperor, who gave them for the use of his 
Vice-Chancellor. 

1838. January 31. — We went to the ball of Princess 
Beloselsky at half-past seven. The Imperial family 
were all there. The exterior of the house in the first 
story was illuminated by innumerable lamps. Four 
hundred and fifty guests were accommodated at the 
supper-table. The magnificence of the whole scene is 
indescribable. The stone staircase, branching off at the 
first landing and leading to the second story, was, in its 
vastness, ornaments, and style, worthy of the splendour 



64 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

to which it introduced one. After the company had 
collected in what seemed to be an endless suite of draw- 
ing-rooms, another suite, embracing an immense picture- 
gallery, was thrown open for dancing, and finally, beyond 
this, another and still more noble series were displayed 
for supper. The picture-gallery contained many very 
fine originals, especially of the schools of Correggio and 
Annibal Carracci, and one, Judith with the Head of 
Holofernes, by Andrea del Sarto, particularly struck me. 
Numbers of the subjects were too indelicate, and ought 
to have been removed on this occasion. Suffering as I 
did during the whole evening with a pain and fever in 
my head, I felt no disposition to partake in the gayety 
around me, and less to converse : my chief occupation 
was, therefore, in examining the paintings and statuary. 
In the apartment appropriated to engravings, of which 
the collection in portraits is extensive and remarkable, I 
was surprised agreeably by seeing one of Trumbull's of 
the Battle of Bunker's Hill. While musing silently and 
in a retired niche, I was agreeably surprised by the Em- 
peror's coming to me, shaking hands, and then leaning 
against the wall as if disposed to a little chit-chat. I 
asked him, in allusion to what took place between us at 
Count Nesselrode's, whether he was ready to take his 
first lesson in English. He said he hoped to benefit by 
frequent conversations with me, and repeated emphati- 
cally the assurance that I was the only gentleman by 
whom he had ever been induced to speak the language 
publicly. I expressed myself highly flattered. He then 
asked what I thought of the state of things in Canada, 
and intimated that he had heard of my doubting whether 
the insurgents had among them a single man competent 
to lead them. He obviously referred to my interview with 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 65 

the Vice-Chancellor. I asked him whether my opinion 
had not already been confirmed by the last intelligence ? 
as Papineau, Brown, Mackenzie, and Nelson seemed to be 
all flying, after having betrayed the cause to which they 
were attached by mutual jealousies, and by precipitate 
demonstrations easily put down. Still, I thought the 
matter was not ended, as the public meetings which 
took place on the American frontier in my own country 
indicated a greater confidence in the rebellion than I 
could explain, while the measures and language of the 
English governor manifested strong apprehensions of a 
protracted, if not desperate, struggle. Besides, in Lon- 
don, Lord John Russell seems to have no idea that the 
affair is over, but, on the contrary, is preparing quite a 
formidable army for immediate shipment. The Emperor 
said that it was neither his temper nor his policy to 
rejoice in the misfortunes of other countries, even though 
they might be supposed beneficial in their tendencies to 
the interests of Russia ; but, added he, almost in the 
very words repeating the sentiment he uttered when I 
presented my letter of credence at Peterhoff, if the 
mother-country will act oppressively and unjustly to- 
wards her colonies, they are right to resist. I told him 
I thought it would be on the whole the better policy for 
England to consent to the separation and independence 
of Canada. " But where then is she to get her timber ?" 
" From the Baltic," I replied. " Yes," he said, " she might, 
but perhaps not of such good quality, nor as cheap." 
This drew my mind to his fleet off Cronstadt, and I 
hazarded the remark that I should like to see those fine- 
looking ships of his out in the Atlantic. " Why," he 
replied, " I will probably send some of them there; but 
really I am charged in all directions with such ambitious 

7 



66 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

projects and such mischievous designs, that I am averse 
to do anything that, in the slightest degree, might 
countenance these imputations." " Send a small squad- 
ron to visit us," said I, " in the United States. I assure 
you we shall give them a most cordial welcome." " I 
should like to do so," he answered, "and think I will send 
one or two ; but my men, who make such good soldiers, 
make poor sailors." " Give them, or some of them," I 
observed, " the opportunity of good long voyages and 
of a bold sea, and they will rapidly improve." The 
Emperor then invited me to accompany him, as soon 
as the opening of the navigation in the spring would 
permit it, on a visit to his Baltic fleet; an invitation 
which I, of course, accepted. I forgot to record that 
when he adverted to the accusations commonly made 
against him, I interrupted him, as apologizing for them 
in some degree, with the remark, " But, then, you are so 
powerful, that you naturally inspire jealousy." " Yes," 
he said, " we are powerful ; only, however, for defence, 
not for attack;" and he seemed anxious that he should 
express this last idea distinctly, for he quit English, for 
an instant, to give it in French. 

I became this evening personally acquainted with Count 
Cherchineff, the Minister of the Department of War. 
He is said to be distinguished by great ability and 
energy. His figure is tall and stout and well propor- 
tioned; his head and face rather small; his hair, eyes, 
and moustaches peculiarly black ; and his complexion 
somewhat pallid. His department exacts infinite labour. 
I told him that we had repeatedly interchanged visits 
and cards without meeting, and that I had ascribed it to 
his incessant engagements. He said I was right; that 
such an empire as this, with such a military system, re- 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 6? 

quired inconceivable exertion, especially with an Emperor 
who entered into all the details of business. " For in- 
stance," said he, " here I am at midnight, but I must be 
up at five in the morning, and must meet the Emperor at 
nine. I have been eleven years in my present post, and 
can't tell how I live through it all !" I should presume 
him to be about fifty. 

It would seem as if my journal were to be taken up 
with the descriptions of entertainments and conversa- 
tions at them. This is not surprising when the season 
is recollected, and when it is also borne in mind that 
matters of information are almost inaccessible here 
except in the manner described. 

1838. February 3. — The soiree and ball of Count 
Koutchilieff-Besborodko took place to-night. We went 
there before ten o'clock. He is a widower and the son 
of Chancellor Besborodko, remarkable for his desire 
and exertions to collect choice furniture; and truly the 
house contained rich specimens of his taste in abun- 
dance ; some of the bronze pieces and many of the paint- 
ings are admirable. The suite of rooms is extensive 
and attracted general curiosity. The stairway, formed 
of inclined planes, not steps, especially adapted for the 
safety of children and winding to the upper stories by a 
series of light square galleries, was novel and beautiful. 

I played a game of chess with Countess Laval, and 
was after a long and interesting fight beaten by a king, 
knight, and pawn. The Prince of Oldenburg was civil 
enough to have himself introduced to me without for- 
mality. He is a prepossessing young man, lately mar- 
ried to a niece of the Emperor, with a Danish countenance, 
projecting nose, light flaxen hair, large blue eyes, and 
delicate complexion ; his height is below the ordinary one. 



68 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

We hurried home early in order to avoid a breach of 
the Sabbath. 

1838. February 7. — We dined with Mr. and Mrs. 
Hodgson at half-past five, and at eight rose from the 
table, leaving our entertainment partly unfinished and a 
numerous company, in order to be early enough at Count 
Levachoff's, where the Imperial family were to be present. 
We reached the count's, and were ascending the stair- 
way when the Emperor and Empress and Grand Duchess 
Marie overtook us. So that we just saved our distance. 
We got home pretty well tired of our day's exploit at 
one o'clock in the morning. 

I played chess with Count Litta, the crack performer 
of the highest circles here, and beat him. This at once 
establishes my reputation ; it does more ; it affords me a 
resource at these soirees much better than the one of 
gambling at whist, to which I am so generally persuaded, 
and to which the lack of something to kill time with 
strongly tempts me. The extent to which gambling is 
carried with this sober game of whist is surprising. One 
gentleman of the diplomatic corps told me that he fre- 
quently played for twenty thousand roubles a game, and 
that last year he lost about eighty-five thousand roubles. 
Ecarte, too, is constant, and I have noticed many thou- 
sands changing owners at this sport in the course of fif- 
teen minutes. At large entertainments twenty or thirty 
card-tables may be readily counted, — all actively going. 
I have, however, noticed but one disagreeable scene of 
conflict, and that ended tranquilly and liberally. 

1838. February 9. — A prevalent disease here, among 
ladies particularly, is the tic-douloureux. It is ascribable 
to the severity of the climate and to the habit of exposure. 
Its origin is a cold. One of the most distressing cases 






AT THE COURT OE THE CZAR. 69 

now attracting general sympathy is that of the young, 
beautiful, and universally admired Ambassadress of Aus- 
tria, Countess de Ficquelmont. She has for some years 
been subject to it. Her recent attacks, however, are 
appalling in their severity. The complaint has lodged 
in her throat and jaws, and she is utterly disabled from 
swallowing. She has now for eight days been lying on 
her back, her mouth open, her eyes sunk, and incapable 
of taking sustenance, of speaking, or of sleep. Latterly, 
strange to say, but I have it from the indubitable testi- 
mony of Mr. Kaizervelt, the secretary of the embassy, she 
has for three nights in succession avoided the paroxysm 
by animal magnetism ; as she feels the prefatory agitation, 
she writes a direction for the physician, who immediately 
attends and magnetizes her short of the point of sleep. 
She has tried all other remedies in vain, nor is it sup- 
posed that this of magnetizing does more than assuage 
the nerves ; cure seems to be hopeless unless she is taken 
to Italy, the country of her youth and of warmth. 

1838. February 16. — The splendid ball and supper of 
Count Woronzow, at which he entertained the Imperial 
family, opened this evening at half-past seven o'clock. 
Opposite the door, on the River Neva, and extending 
the whole width of the house, was an illuminated scaf- 
folding, hung with innumerable lamps. The apart- 
ments were numerous and brilliant beyond any former 
entertainment we have witnessed at this nobleman's ; 
and his guests in greater crowds and more showy equip- 
ments. The company of Horse-Guards officers ap- 
peared in their fullest costume of scarlet and white, and 
the uniforms generally were particularly studied in honour 
of the birthday of one of the Emperor's sisters. The 
chief supper-room, oval in its form, was arranged with 

7* 



yo DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

elegance and taste. I should presume that there were 
plates laid for at least five hundred. 

I very soon heard, in the course of the evening, the 
intelligence, which has reached here through the Berlin 
Gazette, in relation to the attack made by Sir F. Head 
upon the Canadian insurgents on Navy Island in the 
Niagara River, his having routed them, and his having 
pursued an American steamboat, which was said to be 
engaged in their service, killed her crew within our juris- 
diction, set her on fire, and allowed her to drift over the 
falls. The incident is a stirring one, and is regarded here 
as involving an outrage upon the sovereignty of the 
United States, which cannot be overlooked. There is 
obviously a general dislike of English policy and pre- 
tension, and everything is eagerly caught at to fan a 
quarrel with her. It is impossible, however, without 
humiliation, to submit to the proceeding of Sir F. Head. 
The killing of such of our citizens as joined the insur- 
gents on Navy Island is certainly no cause of complaint; 
the destroying of the steamboat, if she were engaged in 
the same service, was an act perfectly justifiable, even if 
she had the impudence to hoist the American flag within 
the limits of British Canada, and Navy Island is within 
them; the Governor had a full right to murder, burn, 
sink, and destroy without incurring any responsibility 
towards any other nation. The point then merely is — 
but it is a vast and vital point — that he did not confine 
himself to the boundaries of Canada, but pursued the 
insurgents into our limits, and there inflicted the punish- 
ment he might well have inflicted on Navy Island. He 
had no right to follow his criminals — his alleged traitors 
and rebels — on to our jurisdiction. He has violated our 
territory, and thus inflicted upon the United States as 






AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 7 1 

gross an insult and as great a national wrong as it was 
in his power to inflict. I trust the patriotism of my 
fellow-citizens has shown itself even without waiting for 
the action of the national government ; but I feel quite 
sure that, however averse we may be to war, the admin- 
istration and Congress will be prompt in vindicating the 
honour and security of the country. Some analogy may 
be conceived to exist between this conduct of Governor 
Head and that of General Jackson, when, in 1818, he 
pursued the Seminole Indians into Florida. The cases 
are, however, very different, and principally in this feat- 
ure. Spain had expressly stipulated by treaty to per- 
vent, by force, any Indians within her territory from 
committing any outrage, invasion, or war upon the ad- 
joining territory of the United States : she distinctly, 
after remonstrance, admitted her inability to fulfil this 
stipulation, and that her power was inadequate to control 
the savages ; we were, therefore, driven by the necessities 
of self-defence to do what Spain had engaged but was 
unable to do. We crossed the line only after in vain 
invoking the Spaniard to perform his covenant, and after 
repeated proofs that as fast as the Seminoles were beaten 
back into Florida, and our soldiery retired, they would 
recruit their strength, and return to renew on our soil 
their butcheries. Nothing of this sort extenuates the 
proceeding in Niagara River. We have never stipulated 
to prevent our citizens engaging in any enterprise they 
please out of our limits. We have never stipulated to 
surrender traitors or criminals on demand, and if we had, 
no demand was made for them, and it was clearly not 
necessary to the self-defence of Governor Head that he 
should chase a boat within our waters, and then destroy 
her and her crew. 



72 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

1838. February 17. — Went at half-past ten to a masked 
ball at the " Assemblee de la Noblesse," and remained 
without being entertained till near one o'clock in the 
morning. Nothing can be more stupid. The Emperor 
and Grand Duke Michel, and it was said some of the 
Imperial ladies, were present. The ease and fearlessness 
with which the first moved about showed how little he 
apprehended hostility towards his person. I remained 
though I did not go alone. 

1838. February 20. — The carnival commenced yester- 
day. This morning I rode around the Champs de Mars, 
a large vacant square by the summer gardens, in which 
have been erected all the temporary buildings usual at 
this season for the amusement of the people. Hereto- 
fore these structures were put up in the square fronting 
the Admiralty ; but it was thought on the present occa- 
sion that the sight of the ruins of the Winter Palace would 
mar the popular pleasures. Neat ice-hills have been pre- 
pared, flying-horses, swinging-geese, booths for jugglers, 
houses for theatres, and the exhibition of wild beasts and 
tumbling. I went too early and found nothing doing. 
Adjourned, therefore, to the Imperial Library, situated 
on the Nevskoi Prospekt, between the Alexandrine 
Theatre and the Gortenadvor. The locale is fine, 
and the arrangement internally admirable. Everything 
seems in capital order, as if not frequently disturbed. 
We walked slowly through the apartments, and were 
struck with the quantity of volumes assigned to the 
department of Russian literature. It probably is more 
bulky than valuable. All agree, the Russians them- 
selves, that their language is yet in its rude state, and 
but imperfectly understood. Another room was crowded 
with Latin works, and is exceedingly precious to the eye 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 73 

of a scholar. We looked through its shelves, and occa- 
sionally examined a volume with great interest. Some 
of the editions are equally rare and ancient ; one of Pliny 
was printed in 1483, only thirty-four years after Guten- 
berg is supposed to have put the art in full operation at 
Mentz, and it certainly looks as well executed as the 
ordinary books of the present day are. We were so 
much taken up by this collection that we had no time 
to do more than examine some rare manuscripts, with a 
great mass of which, of extreme interest, this library has 
been enriched. I noticed about fifty folios bound in red 
morocco, which contained autographic correspondence 
of European sovereigns and ministers during the last 
eight hundred years. Finding that our curiosity was 
intent, one of the persons attached to the institution 
addressed us in French, and politely offered to exhibit 
some of the rarest morceaux. He put before us a small 
collection, most carefully secured and protected, of the 
original letters of Queen Elizabeth, of England ; and 
assuredly I feasted for a while on the character of her 
writing and the emphasis of her signature ; one auto- 
graph letter of Richard the Third, the crookback tyrant, 
several of Charles the First, who was paving his way to 
the block, and a number of James the First. He then 
showed us some beautiful illuminated manuscripts, among 
which that which attracted us most was the prayer-book, 
in Latin, of Mary Queen of Scots, with her own signa- 
ture on the first page, and with many couplets of French 
poetry written by her in the occasional blank spaces ; 
here and there, too, she had made her visitors write 
their names, and the signatures of Essex and N. Bacon 
were conspicuous. The tone of her rhymes indicated 
that they were composed while in prison. The pictures 



74 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

with which the book is embellished are numerous and 
glowing. In this same department we observed a col- 
lection of instruments for writing in glass cases — from 
the reed to the stile and the pen, and from the dry, broad 
grass to the papyrus and bark in all their modifications. 
Two fine full-length portraits of the Emperor Alexander 
adorn the opposite extremities of the library, importing 
that he actively and liberally contributed to its advance- 
ment. The number of volumes, General Alenine, the 
director, informed me, was about four hundred thousand. 
It must be visited again and again and again before it 
can be justly appreciated. 

1838. February 21. — In the evening we repaired to the 
ball of Madame Boutourlin at about nine. The Emperor 
and the two Grand Dukes, Heritier and Michel, came in 
the course of the night: the first danced a quadrille with 
our hostess. After shaking hands, I expressed myself 
pleased to see that he still danced. He said he was too 
old, but that an old sentiment of attachment to the lady 
had got the better of him. " Certainly not too old," said 
I, " because you are several years younger than myself, 
and have not got one of the gray hairs by which I am 
surmounted." " Yes," he replied, " my hairs are gray, — 
the few I have, — and this (pulling the curls on top) is a 
perruque." The rooms opened were numerous and fur- 
nished beautifully. The pride of the owner lies in his 
collection of paintings, which he bought in Italy, and 
some of which are exquisite. I think his Titian, Christ 
bearing His Cross, over the large sofa of a deep crimson 
satin saloon, very much the finest I have seen in Russia, 
and worthy to be a companion of the same subject by 
Carlo Dolce which I saw at Stratton Park, Sir Thomas 
Baring's. A marble head of a satyr by Michael Angelo 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 75 

was arranged for great effect, and attracted much notice, 
but did not equal my expectations of that master : it may 
be the very head which he copied when but sixteen years 
of age, and which elicited so much applause as a promise 
of genius from contemporaries. 

On conversing, to-day, in terms of admiration of some 
of the things I had seen at the Imperial Library, Count 
Lcrchenfeldt informed me that many, if not most, of 
them had been obtained from the libraries of Polish 
nobles whose estates had been confiscated. I had noticed 
a Polish name in many of the volumes. 

1838. February 22. — Dined at Mr. Sebastian Cramer's. 
Met Admiral Hamilton, General Ovender, and Mr. Pe- 
zanovius, with others. The dinner was execrable. A 
dancing-party assembled at ten. We left them at half- 
past ten, and repaired to Princess Butera's. Nothing 
more beautiful, rich, and tasty than her salon of cut 
crimson velvet tapestry, with white and gold chairs and 
settees, splendid mirrors and lustres. 

1838. February 23. — Thermometer remains the same, 
and the temperature in the middle of the day agreeable 
to a rapid walker. At about noon I went on foot with 
Philip in search of amusement, which, during carnival, 
seems to be pursed by all Russians, high and low, with 
untiring assiduity. We first made our way to the Great 
Theatre, and found it crammed so as to be wholly inac- 
cessible. We then hastened to the French Theatre, or 
Theatre Michel, and that also was full to overflowing. 
As a dernier ressort we proceeded to the Champs de 
Mars, intending to look into all the booths and frames 
devoted to popular gayety. We got into the temporary 
circus, after paying an enormous price for admission, and, 
having waited in the cold for half an hour, were content 



j6 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

with the first appearance of the wretched troop of riders 
and hurried out. The ice-hills attracted our attention 
for a short time, and we travelled through the throng of 
pedestrians and carriages, but were soon convinced that 
the chill of the circus made a rapid walk homeward the 
most agreeable proceeding we could adopt. 

1838. MarcJi 11. — Yesterday, after spending all day in 
writing, I repaired, conformably to a card of invitation, 
to the Imperial Institute of St. Catherine, which is of 
the first distinction as a seminary for the education of 
the daughters of the nobility, and over which the Em- 
press specially presides as patroness. The triennial ex- 
amination and display of the quitting class took place. 
It continues for two or three days in succession. Eti- 
quette required me to go in full costume. We reached 
the place at a little after seven in the evening, and found 
the magnificent colonnaded hall filled to overflowing. I 
managed to squeeze a pathway, however, through the 
dense crowd to a range of front seats secured for the 
diplomatic corps. The young ladies, all uniformly 
clothed in plain white with broad crimson sashes and 
bows, were in number about one hundred and fifty, went 
through their exercises of public examination very well, 
and then sang and danced with much harmony and 
effect, but no beauty or grace. 

1838. March 12. — The weather for a week past has 
been steadily moderating, and is now beautifully fine. 
The thermometer scarcely indicates at any hour during 
the day a degree of cold equal to five of Reaumur, and 
for a fact, it is doubtful whether a general thaw is not 
proceeding even in the shade. In places exposed to the 
heat the snow and ice are dissolving. 

We went, at seven o'clock, in grand costume, to be 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. J J 

received by their serene Highnesses the Prince and Prin- 
cess of Oldenburg, who reside in a delightful palace 
adjoining the Austrian Ambassador's on the Great Quay. 
There was not the customary stiff state. They are a 
young couple, married in June last, and apparently happy 
in each other. His manners are engaging and plain, 
and hers polished and cordial. His figure is devoid of 
attraction, — short, and but poorly adjusted, — his hair is 
light, his eyes round and blue, and his nose aquiline. 
Her face has much beauty in it, — remarkably fine teeth, 
good nose, rich flaxen hair, and clear, large blue eyes. 
When she speaks her countenance is lighted up with 
smiles and intelligence. We sat down, an unusual cir- 
cumstance, and conversed for about half an hour. 

1838. March 14. — Weather still improving. 

Much faith prevails here in animal magnetism. Having 
no belief myself, I was much surprised to hear, this 
evening, from Mr. Correa, on whose intelligence and 
veracity every reliance must be placed, the incident of 
actual personal observation and experience which has 
compelled him to credit what he had before totally 
repudiated. He was in Germany, and in the neigh- 
bourhood of one of the towns witnessed an accident 
to a lady with whom he was well acquainted : she was 
thrown from her horse, her head severely cut, and she 
remained insensible. A physician was sent for, who, 
after anxiously examining, was unable to ascertain the 
cause of her prolonged insensibility. He proceeded to 
magnetize her. Correa, ridiculing, remarked that nothing 
could be done that way. " Yes," said the physician ; 
" wait a moment, and I will hear what's the matter with 
her and how best to treat her." In a short time, though 
still apparently lifeless, the lady spoke, directed attention 



7§ DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

to particular wounds, and prescribed in Latin (a language 
unknown to her out of the influence of magnetism) the 
medicines and applications most suitable for her relief. 
"I do not," said Mr. Correa, "ask your belief in this 
statement. I never could have believed it had I merely- 
heard it from another, but I actually witnessed what I 
have stated, though I am utterly unable to comprehend 
it." 

1838. March 17. — Being specially invited, I dined to- 
day with "The English Club," an association formed in 
1770, which consists now of more than eight-tenths who 
are not English, though it embraces all the respectable 
merchants and traders of that country residing here. 
They are a wealthy society, and seem bent upon enjoy- 
ment. About three hundred persons were at table. It 
is the anniversary of their foundation. I had hoped to 
have met Marshal Paskevietch, the Prince of Warsaw, 
one of the present race of great men of Russia ; he had 
arrived here the day before yesterday, but was not able 
to attend. I met Sir James Wylie, who has been eminent 
as a physician, and still continues at the head of medical 
science in this country. He was chief physician during 
Paul's and Alexander's reign to the Court and Army. 
He is a hearty, broad-looking Scotchman of more than 
sixty-five. The toasts were five: 1. Our Master, the 
Emperor; 2. The Heir to the Crown, Empress, and all 
the Imperial Family; 3. The Prosperity of Russia; 4. 
The English Club; 5. The Queen of England. 

1838. March 19.— Mrs. Dallas and I at half-past four 
repaired to Prince Youssoupoff' s to dinner. The estab- 
lishment is on the grandest and costliest scale. The 
endless range of lofty saloons, the countless paintings 
upon the walls, the masterly and exquisite statuary, and 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. Jg 

the numberless servants gorgeously dressed out in green 
and silver, with pages having caps and flowing feathers, 
altogether overwhelmed one's faculties of admiration. It 
redeemed its reputation of being the largest private resi- 
dence in St. Petersburg, and far surpassed in splendour 
anything I have yet seen. I should suppose there could 
not have been less than a thousand paintings of the 
various masters, and some of them of immense size. 
For two alone, the present Emperor offered two hundred 
and fifty thousand roubles, but the sale was declined. 
That, however, which riveted my gaze was the noble 
piece of sculpture of Canova, Cupid embracing Psyche; 
it was placed in the centre of a circular apartment whose 
roof was a dome, and whose walls were tapestried in 
glowing scarlet ; the effect upon the white marble was 
beautiful. Our dinner was all that boundless wealth 
could make it. The guests were fifty in number: Counts 
Orloff and Woronzow, Prince Mensikoff, Princess Belo- 
selsky, Countess Laval, Sherbatoff, Bloudoff, Ministers 
of Prussia and Sweden, etc. The dining-hall, of spacious 
dimensions, was on one side decorated with family pic- 
tures, and on the other with the family plate tastily 
arranged in two glass-covered cases, which filled the 
whole space, and which, being divided into shelves, ena- 
bled one to see every curiously worked piece distinctly, 
and to take the whole magnificent service in at one 
coup d'ceil. The fashion of collecting family plate and 
of thus displaying it has recently been borrowed from 
England. In a glass mahogany case immediately behind 
the seat of our host was preserved the autograph corre- 
spondence of Peter the Great. Among other varieties of 
the table was a fish which had been brought from a dis- 
tance of more than two thousand versts. I observed 



So DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

two waiters carrying a porcelain dish about nine feet 
long and two wide, and being seated next to my hostess, 
I inquired what the monster could be ; it was more than 
two yards in length, was of delicate flavour, and tasted to 
me like salmon ; its name I forget. When we left the 
dining-room, cards were resorted to by some; but Mrs. 
Dallas and I, after a fresh survey of the paintings and 
statuary, and having taken coffee and liqueur, came 
home to prepare to accompany our two girls to the 
soiree of Countess Laval. 

At Countess Laval's, I saw for the first time General 
Paskevietch, Prince of Warsaw, the hero of two wars, 
Persian and Polish. He was playing whist, and I, there- 
fore, declined interrupting him in order to be introduced. 
His display of orders and ornaments was brilliant and 
unusual. 

1838. March 22. — Having determined on purchasing 
a carriage and pair of horses, I yesterday traversed 
various streets, and found my way at last to the common 
horse-market which is about three miles off It was 
crowded with animals of all descriptions and preten- 
sions. I selected a promising pair of bays, and directed 
them to be brought to my house this morning at ten 
o'clock. The price asked was a thousand roubles, and 
I might probably have got them for seven hundred and 
fifty. As a matter of additional precaution, however, 
after I had satisfied myself by the opinions of competent 
judges as to their age, strength, and soundness, I directed 
them to be harnessed to a carriage for trial. They were 
put to, but would not budge; they were unbroken and 
wholly unfit for use ! I left the jockey in disgust. 

1838. March 23. — A fine pair of grays were brought 
for my inspection this morning, from an extensive stable 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 8 1 

which I visited yesterday. The young man who had 
the management of the concern accompanied them. I 
had them carefully examined, tried first separately in a 
sledge, and then together in a carriage ; we were all 
much pleased with them, and I bargained for a purchase. 
I was asked two thousand three hundred and fifty 
roubles. I offered eighteen hundred, and finally it was 
agreed that I should have them for nineteen hundred, 
and that they should be left with me for three days for 
further trial. They were to be warranted sound. I 
paid the usual earnest called here hand-money, and 
ordered my coachman to put the horses up. The whole 
matter being concluded, I prepared to issue forth for the 
carriage and other essential adjuncts. When I had 
reached the street with my maitre dliotcl, an old man 
suddenly stopped us, and as owner, disclaimed the con- 
tract made by his agent, professing himself unwilling to 
sell at the price agreed upon. I walked quietly back 
into my chancery, while the dispute proceeded in a 
language I could not understand. In a short time my 
servant brought me the hand-money, saying that the 
owner was dissatisfied. I directed him to tell the owner 
plainly — for I perceived at once the arrangement between 
the principal and the agent to get more money — that he 
might take his horses and go the devil ! I again heard 
some loud talk in the hall, and opening the door, ordered 
my servant to turn the owner, to whom I pointed, in- 
stantly out of the house. He immediately perceived 
that he was understood and foiled, and begged to receive 
back the hand-money and to execute the bargain. My 
choler, however, was up, and I felt it to be my turn now 
to improve the purchase ; so I peremptorily refused un- 
less he accepted my original offer of eighteen hundred 

8* 



S2 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

roubles. He remained in the court-yard some time 
hesitating, but finally went away slowly with his horses. 
This morning he returned with them, but I did not see 
him. 

1838. March 25. — Mahlon Dickinson retires from the 
Navy Department in June next, ow r ing to the increasing 
infirmities of age, and I am wished at home in order to 
take his place. Shall I suggest my readiness to obey 
any summons to that effect? There are many reasons 
pro and con ; but on the whole I am inclined to believe 
that, being now across the Atlantic, I had better remain 
tranquil some time longer. If I could persuade myself 
to believe that my being in the Cabinet could be useful 
to the country or to my political friends, I would not 
hesitate upon the sacrifice ; but the appointment may per- 
haps be more advantageously given to an Eastern or 
a Western man. A Virginian might well be selected. 
Woodberry is from the East, Butler from Xew York, 
Forsyth and Poinsett are both Southerners, and Kendale 
is Western. 

1838. March 31. — We visited the Imperial Manufac- 
tory of Mirrors and other Glass, starting at half-past 
eleven, and not reaching there, unfortunately, till after 
the workmen had broken off and probably gone to their 
dinner. The distance is not more than three miles. It 
will be necessary to repeat our visit, as we were con- 
ducted through the extensive range of buildings, and 
were satisfied that in all respects it merits full exami- 
nation. We witnessed single processes of making de- 
canters and tumblers, of gilding and painting ornamental 
pieces, of cooling and grinding smooth, immense plates 
of looking-glass, and pressing the quicksilver on the 
back, of cutting bottles, etc. The collection of articles 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 83 

for sale is neatly and attractively arranged, some of them 
very beautiful. We made a small purchase of two table 
ornaments of little value, but pretty. I had no servant 
with me capable of speaking any language but Russian, 
and was therefore wholly at a loss. 

Attended the soiree of General D'Opotschinine, and I 
was beaten at chess by Count Litta. 

1838. April 2. — Two hours of the morning (a remark- 
ably bright one) were given to a stroll with Philip 
through the gallery of the Hermitage. I remarked 
more carefully than heretofore the paintings. The col- 
lections of Wouvermans, of Teniers, of Rembrandt, of 
Rubens, of Vandyke, and of Snyders, are each numerous 
and very fine, that of the last unrivalled. Several of Sal- 
vator Rosa, of Guido, and of Murillo are exquisite. The 
Raphaels are neither remarkable nor many. The Claude 
Lorrains and Carle Vernets are admirable. Some of 
Gerard Dow attracted a long gaze. Two mosaics, land- 
scapes, more than a foot square, have all the richness, 
softness, and delicacy of the most finished paintings, and 
are the best things of the kind I ever saw. Some of 
Nicholas Poussin are of his highest excellence. 

I noticed an immense painting, not hung but arranged 
on scaffolding, which was obviously the representation 
of a Review by the present Emperor at the head of a 
regiment of cuirassiers, either in Vienna or Berlin, — my 
ignorance of these two cities will not permit me to de- 
scribe which, but I incline to the latter. The figures 
were all executed with the precision of miniatures, and 
were in number not less than two thousand. They are 
probably chiefly likenesses, that of the Emperor a striking 
one. The horses are done with inconceivable spirit. 
The group of fashionable spectators in the right corner 



84 DIARY 01 GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

of the picture is in itself a delightful study. I must 
ascertain the artist by inquiring this evening at Countess 
Laval's. 

1838. April 7. — The day is kept by the Russians in a 
peculiar manner, and apparently for the especial benefit 
of children. The Gostenadvor has been surrounded by 
booths for vending toys and nicknackeries during the last 
three days, and the throng there to-day was great. 
Among other things bought and sold are switches of 
a shrub I could not recognize, seemingly just vegetating, 
and which are said to be accompanied in their use by 
good luck to the person flagellated. 

1838. April 16. — Agreeably to the notice from the 
Grand Master of Ceremonies, I attended the Imperial 
Court at the palace of the Hermitage this morning at 
noon. The assembly was by no means as brilliant as 
the one at the beginning of the new year. The Diplo- 
matic Corps were all present, except Count Schimmel- 
penninck, who absented himself in consequence of the 
scarlet-fever having raged in his family. The Empress 
was peculiarly splendid, having on a blue velvet tiara 
glistening with immense diamonds in the shape of ears 
of wheat, and a train of cloth of gold, deeply bordered 
with ermine. She wore also a broad, blue ribbon, em- 
blematic of some order. Among the maids of honour I 
particularly noticed Marie de Benkendorff and Miss 
Lanskoy. The three Grand Duchesses, Marie, Olga, 
and Alexandrina, looked exceedingly pale, owing prob- 
ably to their protracted fast. So did the Heir Apparent. 
A company of soldiers were ranged in one entry, all of 
whom were at least seven feet high. The Emperor in- 
formed me that he would travel into the central part of 
Europe in the course of a month or six weeks, " to take 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 85 

the waters for the benefit of his old years and of his old 
woman." 

1838. April 20. — A stranger who has not witnessed 
can scarcely imagine the ardour with which the lower 
classes of this city give themselves during the present 
week, immediately following the long Careme, to the 
most childish sports. They are encouraged, too, by all 
sorts of military and police arrangements. During the 
last three days of the week, and particularly in the after- 
noon, immense crowds collect at the common rendezvous 
in the square fronting the Admiralty, where have been 
erected temporary playhouses, circus, jugglers' booths, 
menageries, whirligigs of all kinds, flying-horses, swings, 
etc. During this afternoon, I should suppose there 
assembled no fewer than fifty or sixty thousand people, 
and the whole machinery of amusement was in full exer- 
cise. The throng of carriages, whose circuits are care- 
fully directed and supervised by mounted dragoons, and 
whose multitudes and equipments are equally countless 
and showy, all in regular and unceasing motion, give to 
the coup d' <zil the effect of a most magnificent panorama. 
The pervading silence forms, however, a forcible and 
eloquent contrast to the noise and bustle which would ac- 
company such a scene in the United States. Scarcely any- 
thing is heard but the sound of the driving carriages, the 
bands of music within the theatres, or an occasional wild 
and monotonous song from the women who are swing- 
ing with great velocity. Real and loud hilarity is not dis- 
cernible; nor, indeed, is it possible to find in any part of 
this dense mass the slightest disposition to quarrel or con- 
troversy; the great occupation of those who meet seem- 
ing to be, notwithstanding beards, moustaches, whiskers, 
and dirt, to exchange kisses on each side of the mouth. 



86 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

1838. April 22. — The exhibition before the Admi- 
ralty has been eminently showy and amusing to-day, 
the last of the Carnival. I went with Philip on foot, 
while the ladies crowded the carriage. The multitude 
exceeded any assemblage I ever before saw; men, 
women, and children, all dressed with cleanliness and 
finery, and carriages without numbers, most of which were 
splendid equipages with four horses and gaudy liveries. 
Without the slightest tincture of exaggeration, I should 
say that there were collected not less than two hundred 
thousand human beings. The usual perfect order pre- 
vailed. The carriages, which moved in several regular 
lines in front of the space appropriated to diversions, 
were divided into as many concentric circles, and pro- 
ceeded in a walk; had they formed in one straight line 
they must have extended seven or eight miles. At 
about half-past five, when I stood on the terrace of the 
Admiralty admiring the spectacle, I noticed the composed 
and slow progress of a high military officer on horseback, 
in what might be termed the centre aisle between the 
rows of carriages ; he was distinguished by a broad blue 
ribbon, and was soon joined by another, whom I recog- 
nized as the Prince of Oldenburg. There was obviously 
now some ceremony preparing, and I waited for it. In 
a short time the Emperor, in a brilliant uniform of scar- 
let and white, mounted on a fine bay charger, appeared 
at one extremity of the aisle, accompanied by the Grand 
Duke Michel in a hussar uniform, and the Czarovitz 
in scarlet and white, with a throng of about a hundred 
aides-de-camp in the same glowing dress; the cavalcade 
passed up to the right extremity at which the Emperor 
formed it in a line. The Empress then, with her daugh- 
ters, in an open barouche drawn by six grays, with three 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 87 

postilions clothed like jockeys in white satin jackets 
with light-blue satin sleeves and white breeches, and 
with silk cap and tassel, drove into the aisle and passed 
in front of his Majesty, by whom she was formally 
saluted; several carriages followed her with her maids 
of honour, and a crowd of officers attended. The glitter- 
ing of the uniforms, the nodding of plumes, the rich- 
ness of the equipages, the caracoling of the beautiful 
horses, and all combined with the immensity of the 
crowd, and its universal devotion to amusement and 
hilarity, produced an effect altogether beyond descrip- 
tion. The Imperial Cortege rode up and down in the 
manner I have described several times. 

I met the Emperor this morning on the English Quay. 
He was alone, stopped, shook me cordially by the hand, 
and after a little chat, informed me that he had received 
news from Lake Ladoga which rendered it probable 
that the ice in the Neva would break away in the course 
of two or three days. The weather indeed has been 
quite warm, and the wind southerly. 

1838. April 25. — I visited Mr. Leiberman, the Prus- 
sian Minister, who entertained me with an active and 
ardent conversation on the expensiveness of living in 
St. Petersburg, and its real cause, — a system of monopoly 
and commercial restriction to which the Government so 
inflexibly adheres. He described the system of smug- 
gling carried on upon the Prussion frontier here as con- 
stant and organized, and as continually leading to the most 
bloody conflicts between the borderers of the nations. 

1838. April 26. — Bets on the departure of the ice in 
the Neva are numerous and heavy. The Emperor him- 
self gambles on this event. It has been expected to move 
for several days, but remains firm ; and one unacquainted, 



88 DIARY OF GEORGE MILFLIN DALLAS. 

as I am, with the effects and operation by which it is 
secretly governed, would deem it stationary for ten days 
or two weeks more under almost any condition of at- 
mosphere. 

1838. April 27. — The ball at Count Braniska's was 
very brilliant, and attended by all the Imperial family. 
We went at eight and got home again at half-past one. 
Some of the apartments are beautiful ; those appropriated 
to dancing and supping could not be surpassed. The 
service of gold on the table at which the Empress sat — 
a table that accommodated about twenty persons — was 
exquisite in its splendour and workmanship. 

1838. April 28. — The ice in the Neva gave way and 
started on its downward course at about ten o'clock 
to-day. At about five in the afternoon, the usual cere- 
mony was performed by the Emperor drinking a tumbler 
of the water, filling the tumbler with pieces of gold for 
the benefit of the officer who handed it, and ordering 
him to cross the river in his barge ; the barge proceeds, 
cannon are fired when it is half-way, and again when 
over, and thenceforward the people are at liberty to use 
their wherries. The intercourse to-day between the city 
and the islands was suspended for about eight hours; 
between six and seven p.m. but few cakes of ice were per- 
ceptible. The bridge of boats was swung on one side at 
about noon, and will probably not be restored before 
to-morrow morning. I yesterday received a notice from 
the Grand Master of Ceremonies of an intention on the 
part of the Imperial Court to meet at the Hermitage on 
Sunday (to-morrow) at twelve, in celebration of the 
birthday of the Czarovitz, who is just twenty; but the 
notice has been to-day countermanded by a note from 
the same source, without assigning any reason. 



AT 7 HE C0UR7 OF THE CZAR. 89 

1838. April 29. — The weather was delightfully mild. 
The river, entirely free from ice, was again thronged 
with the fanciful summer boats. We walked for an hour 
in the summer gardens, which were crowded with fash- 
ionable visitors. 

1838. May 2. — Phil and I strolled towards the Champ- 
de-Mars, and had the good luck to meet there, in grand 
review and exercise, a body of about fifteen or twenty 
thousand cavalry. The Grand Duke Michel was present 
in command. Large squadrons went through the oper- 
ation of charging at full gallop. The flying artillery 
was particularly interesting and exceedingly neat. This 
splendid exhibition was unaccompanied by the slightest 
noise or curiosity on the part of the population of the 
city. Perhaps it is too common to attract them; but 
matters of the sort are all arranged in secret ; no news- 
papers advertise them ; and after many inquiries, I have 
found it impossible to get to know when they take place. 

1838. May 3. — This being a Court fete in honour of 
the births of the Empress and the Grand Duchess Alex- 
andra, I attended at the palace of the Hermitage agree- 
ably to notice at twelve o'clock. The presentation was 
in all respects very brilliant. In the evening at eight 
o'clock we repaired to a Court ball at the same palace. 

1838. May 5. — The Emperor reviewed sixty thousand 
of his troops in the Champ-de-Mars at twelve o'clock 
to-day. We had obtained, through the kindness of Gen- 
eral Ovander, accommodations in the military barracks 
fronting the scene, and commanded a complete view of 
the whole spectacle. Nothing could be finer ; we went 
there at about half-past nine o'clock, and were early 
enough to witness the earliest preparations and every 
successive arrival of force. The parade-ground is a 

9 



90 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

square in a level field of about fifty acres, whose surface 
is made earth, and which they were engaged with hoses 
and engines in watering so as effectually to lay the 
dust. By half-past eleven o'clock all the troops occu- 
pied their stations, and a large body could not be 
arranged on the field, but remained between it and the 
Great Quay. The proportions I should estimate thus, say 
forty-five thousand infantry and fifteen thousand cavalry 
and light artillery. Their equipments were all in the 
finest possible order: the brass cannon, the cuirasses, the 
muskets, and the front ornaments of the caps glittered 
dazzlingly in the sun. The horses, which in every regiment 
were of uniform colour, all of jet black or gray or sorrel 
or chocolate or bay, were beautiful without exception, 
and constituted perhaps the most striking feature of the 
exhibition ; every officer was mounted on a charger 
equally spirited, graceful, and docile; the dresses of the 
various corps and squadrons were showy and effective. 
The Emperor came on the ground accompanied by a 
numerous staff, among whom were several military 
members of the diplomatic corps — Count Ficquelmont, 
Baron Palmstjerna, and Baron Seebach — a little after 
twelve o'clock, and cantered along the several fronts, 
saluted by a hurrah from every successive regiment, 
which he reciprocated by touching his hat. His progress 
awoke some fine music from the different bands. When 
he had finished, the Empress in an open landau with her 
three daughters, drawn by four bays with two postilions, 
reviewed the army in the same way. The two sover- 
eigns then stationed themselves with their suite at the 
centre of one side of the square and the troops marched 
by before them. His Majesty was so much gratified by 
the manner with which the soldiers performed their duty 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 9 1 

that he ordered two roubles to be paid to each man. 
The precision and neatness of their movements well 
deserved this mark of approbation. 

1838. May 7. — We started at half-past eight this 
morning, accompanied by the Marquis De Carrega and 
the Chevalier De Cossati, to visit the manufactories of 
glass and of porcelain, and the great cotton, hemp, and 
card factories at Alexandrofsky. The first we had visited 
on the 31st of March last, and were only additionally 
pleased by finding the workmen all at duty. Their 
number is four hundred. We failed to see a large mirror 
cast, but were gratified by seeing the simple process of 
putting the quicksilver upon the glass, and the still 
simpler one of making tubes for thermometers. The 
porcelain factory was at rest, all hands at dinner, and we 
only witnessed the machinery, the models, and some 
splendid specimens of the art in the " magazin ;" a small 
dessert set of plates with admirable likenesses of emi- 
nent Russian officers were for sale at the price of one 
hundred and fifty roubles per plate. The chief exploit 
of the jaunt, however, was the exploring of the exten- 
sive Alexandrofsky factories, which enjoy great repute. 
They are ten versts or seven miles from the city, and 
constitute a most imposing collection of lofty buildings. 
They employ about three thousand hands, male and 
female, young and old. A large proportion of these 
are free artisans; the rest are called "children of the 
crown," and have been drawn from the foundling hos- 
pitals. The entire establishment has for many years 
been under the control of an Englishman, General 
Wilson, whose second in command is his brother; both 
were attentive to us. Several pieces of machinery were 
strikingly good; two steam-engines, one of one hundred 



92 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

and ten horse-power, and another of seventy ; a novel 
process of carding wool, being two large wheels armed 
with several rows of long steel teeth bending somewhat 
from the circumference inwards and meeting in their 
revolutions so as to feed each other. This apparatus 
was introduced from England about eight years ago, 
and performs the task which would otherwise occupy 
thirty-one persons; the machinery for making playing- 
cards, printing, colouring, polishing, and cutting them, 
was exceedingly neat; as was also that for making sail- 
cloth and sheeting. We attended while six hundred of 
the operators took their dinner in a single wide and 
commodious apartment. Of these two hundred and 
seventeen were females, all clothed with great tidiness 
and seated all at one long table; — not a redeeming ray 
of beauty in the whole assemblage. The fare was good : 
corn-beef, soup, millet, and black bread; no vegetables. 
The dinner was preceded and closed with a short hymn 
decently sung; and every movement of entrance or 
departure was characterized by the formality, precision, 
and silence of military discipline. Not a word was 
uttered during the repast. The Chapel is handsome, — 
its walls and ceiling washed with light blue and studded 
with golden stars, and it is capable of containing all the 
tenants of the factory. Roomy accommodations are 
devoted to recreation and to schooling. The bedrooms 
are remarkably airy and cleanly. One noble hall 
is reserved for occasions of exhibition before the Im- 
perial patrons. All the range of structure is fire-proof; 
the ceilings are arched with cast-iron, the staircases are 
of stone or iron, and the roofs are either tile or iron. 
We were detained so long in making the above visits 
that we did not get home until half-past two, and I lost 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 93 

the opportunity of attending, according to engagement, 
at the new Church of St. Isaac, in order to witness the 
raising of one of the immense pillars of granite which 
are to sustain the great dome. 

1838. May 8. — A strong northwesterly wind has 
brought down the ice from Lake Ladoga. The river is 
crowded with it. The cold has become unpleasant in 
consequence, and snow has fallen. As this is the largest 
lake in Europe, having a superficies of more than six 
thousand square miles, and no outlet for its ice but the 
Neva, we must expect the chilling current to continue 
for some days. The southwestern extremity of Ladoga 
is about thirty miles east of St. Petersburg. 

Notwithstanding the obvious danger of crossing the 
river while this vast field of ice is driving, the wherries 
are plying with great activity and much crowded. The 
bridge is necessarily swung on one side, and all com- 
munication cut off except by the boats. Many are taken 
by surprise, and compelled by the urgency of business 
to incur the risk. This afternoon a flat-bottomed wherry, 
loaded with seven persons, upset amid the ice, and all 
hands perished. 

1838. May 10. — Yesterday the river was sufficiently 
clear of ice to permit the reinstatement of the bridge ; 
to-day, however, a new arrival has cut off the communi- 
cation. No passage open yet for navigation between this 
and Cronstadt. Our days are becoming long. It was a 
clear and rich twilight when we returned from Mrs. 
Gillebrand's. 

1838. May 13. — This being first of May, Old Style, 
is usually signalized by a sort of gay fete at Katarinoff, 
about three miles out of town, when a procession of 
equipages, headed by some members of the Imperial 

9* 



94 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

family, go thither, " to meet the Spring," and to parade in 
lines around a sort of garden or open park in which the 
multitude are amusing themselves in their own way. 
We drove out, found it dull and the weather bad, and 
were wholly disappointed. 

The Emperor and Czarovitz quit for Berlin this morn- 
ing. 

1838. May 17. — The ice, in considerable quantities, is 
again drifting down the river, but the weather is exceed- 
ingly pleasant. The Gulf of Finland, below Cronstadt, 
for seventy or eighty versts, is yet an unbroken sheet of 
ice. Vessels are said to be in sight waiting for an opening. 

Mrs. Cramer's last dance for the season was attended 
by all of us. We went at 9.30 in daylight, and returned 
at 2.30 in the morning and broad day. 

The last of the twenty-four granite pillars on the top 
and exterior of the dome of St. Isaac's Church was 
placed on Monday last. This completes an undertaking 
of considerable skill and hazard. Each of these columns 
is forty-two feet in length, four feet nine inches in breadth 
at the base, and weighs one hundred and sixty thousand 
pounds. The arch on which they rest is one hundred and 
sixty feet above the floor of the church. This church will 
be adorned in its various parts with not less than one hun- 
dred and four of these granite columns, whose combined 
weight is estimated at eleven million one hundred and 
fifty-six thousand pounds. The highest point of the 
edifice, when finished, will be at an elevation of three 
hundred and twenty-nine feet. I have marked, almost 
daily, the operation of raising these columns. Not the 
slightest noise, accident, or confusion occurred at any 
time, although the work was sometimes going on when 
Reaumur stood at io°. 



A 7 THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 95 

1838. May 18. — The ice, early this morning, came 
down the river in large quantities. It interrupts the 
intercourse with Vassili-Ostroff seriously. Rumor states 
that two Baltic steamers are in the Gulf of Finland, pre- 
vented by the ice from reaching Cronstadt. 

The Austrian Ambassador, Count Ficquelmont, called 
to take leave, intending to quit here with his wife to- 
morrow morning. He returns, he says, in November: 
the Countess will remain in a milder climate for eighteen 
months. 

The Emperor did not leave Sarsko-Selo until it turned 
Tuesday morning last : this owing to the universal Rus- 
sian superstition against commencing a journey on Mon- 
day. He delayed his departure till a half-hour after 
midnight, and then started full gallop. 

1838. May 19. — Agreeably to arrangement we pro- 
ceeded, at eleven o'clock, to visit the Corps of Marine 
Cadets, situated on the quay on Vassili-Ostroff, and super- 
intended by the celebrated navigator, Admiral Adam 
John de Krusenstern, who performed the voyage around 
the globe in 1 803-1806. His invitation had been exceed- 
ingly kind, and we resolved to be punctual. As the 
bridge was not yet replaced, owing to the floating ice, 
we occupied two wherries, being accompanied by Mr. 
Cossato and Mr. Chew, and by three servants, and were 
rowed over rapidly. The Admiral and his two daugh- 
ters received us, and we were regaled immediately with 
hot chocolate. He would seem to be about seventy-three 
or -five years of age, resembles in countenance and figure, 
very strongly, our former President Monroe, and is re- 
markably unaffected and benevolent in his manner. 
While we were sipping chocolate, he drew my attention 
to two Chinese paintings which had been sent to him, 



96 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

representing the Emperor of China seated in state, with 
his great officers about him and ready to give audience. 
He had received them via New York, and believed them 
the only specimens of Chinese art of that description 
which had reached Europe. I could only think them 
curious. The next two hours were wholly occupied in 
examining the noble institution, of which, after having 
been the second Governor during a short period of eight 
months, he has now been the chief for more than twelve 
years. He led us into all the interesting departments 
excepting the Observatory, which he said was too lofty 
to be reached by the ladies without great fatigue; and 
he explained everything as he went along with a sim- 
plicity and interest which heightened our gratification. 
The building is an immense quadrangle, whose front on 
the river may be about eight hundred feet. It accom- 
modates six hundred pupils, with all the necessary 
teachers, the retinue of servants, the Admiral's family, 
countless apartments appropriated to museums, libraries, 
reception-rooms, models, moulding, etc., and four large 
open lots for recreation and sport. None are admitted 
into this Imperial institution except the sons of noble- 
men ; one hundred of them pay for their own tuition, at 
the rate of one hundred and fifty roubles, or one hundred 
and twenty-five dollars per annum, and for that sum, in 
addition to instruction, are found in everything, — board- 
ing, lodging, clothing, books, and a suit of uniform when 
they quit; the other five hundred of them are paid for 
by the Emperor. The regular course lasts six years, 
and at the close the pupil is an officer in the navy, and 
enters active service. About eighty are thus ushered 
into the world every year. Nothing would seem to be 
spared in labour and expense in order to make their train- 



A 7 THE COURT OF THE CZAR. g? 

ing perfect. The Emperor has devoted three beautiful 
small frigates exclusively to their use, in which they are 
constantly practising, during the summer season, in the 
bay between this and Cronstadt. Every class has, in its 
turn, ample opportunity for this practical experience. 
But in the building itself, for the special initiation of the 
younger classes, there has been constructed a small man- 
of-war brig, furnished with all the spars and ropes, and 
strong enough as well as roomy enough to permit a crew 
of twenty to go through all the exercises of making 
sail, tacking, taking in, etc. We were delighted at wit- 
nessing this at full play under the orders of a lad of 
great promise, about fifteen years of age, the son of an 
acquaintance, Princess Gallitzin. In the same vast apart- 
ment, at one end of it, has been stationed what is de- 
nominated the dock-yard, in which there is building a 
seventy-four, every timber and plank of which is fitted 
with screws, so as to be capable of being taken to pieces 
and of being rebuilt by each successive class. The keel 
is fifty-seven feet in length, and the beam is fourteen. 
This admirable structure originated with Krusenstern, 
and he proposes by it to give to every one of his students 
an ample knowledge of every part of a vesssel of war, 
of the relation of all the parts, and of ship-building 
generally. Near this, also, were erected two sections of a 
man-of-war's bulwarks, each with a port-hole, one with 
a long gun, the other with a carronade, both of brass, 
fitted to practise the levelling, taking sight, loading, and 
firing. The same apartment, of whose vast dimensions 
I forget the particulars, is used as a refectory ; and we 
were highly gratified by seeing the entire corps of six 
hundred drummed to their dinner in exact order. The 
astronomical apparatus, the models of a number of cele- 



98 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

brated ships, and the engraving of a remarkable sea- 
fight, were all interesting. The capital library, too, 
stored with volumes in various languages, was superin- 
tended by an officer decorated with an order of merit. 
The dormitories were airy and extensive ; the apartments 
for the sick were unexceptionable, and here we saw a 
recent English invention of a bed made of water, — in 
other words, a mattress of gum-elastic filled with that 
fluid, — which the Admiral assured us had been found, on 
trial, the easiest bed for the invalid. The kitchen appeared 
commodious and ample. One pervading quality struck 
us all in relation to the whole institution, — its extreme 
neatness and cleanliness, the total absence, even in the 
hospital and kitchen, of the slightest offensive appearance 
or odour. While walking through the museum, I re- 
marked two pieces of fanciful carving in black wax, — one 
a troika, of small size, — and was told by the Admiral that 
they were the untaught and unaided productions of one 
of his pupils ; that the boy had manifested no particular 
capacity for the naval service, but had suddenly exhib- 
ited this sort of talent and taste, and that about five 
days ago the Emperor, who is very fond of the establish- 
ment, paid it a visit before going to Berlin, and, noticing 
the two specimens on the table, inquired about their 
author, and immediately directed that he should be sent, 
under his particular auspices, to be instructed in the Acad- 
emy of Arts. The Admiral and his two daughters politely 
escorted us to the wharf at a little after one o'clock, and 
we agreed in the opinion that our morning had been 
most agreeably and advantageously spent. 

At two o'clock we drove to the Hermitage, expecting 
to treat ourselves and the young ones with hearing the 
far-famed golden peacock, golden cock, and golden owl, 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 99 

under a golden tree, on a golden grass-plat, surrounded 
by enormous precious stones, make their respective pecu- 
liar noises of screaming, crowing, and hooting. The 
machinery, however, was out of repair, and we had to 
content ourselves with astonishing the eyes without the 
ears. Finding Mr. Labensky present, I ascertained from 
him that the painter of the magnificent and interesting 
picture I had noticed on a former visit — the Review in 
Berlin — is named Cruger, and is a native of that city. 
All its remarkable personages are miniature likenesses; 
and he pointed out to me in the right corner of the 
picture two figures of no little celebrity in a sort of 
dearborn or open carriage, — Paganini seated, and Sontag 
(now Countess Rossi) standing alongside of him. He 
showed me also Baron Humboldt in the crowd. 

1838. May 20. — Being the anniversary of our sailing 
out of the harbour of Boston on board the Independence, 
we were visited by a young gentleman of that city, Mr. 
Sumner, just arrived, and the first who reached Cron- 
stadt through the ice this season in a Charleston brig, 
The Hardy, who was present and saw us take our 
departure in our noble frigate. 

1838. June 3. — We spent the evening at Countess 
Nesselrode's, not returning home until half-past twelve, 
at which hour the twilight was so beautiful and clear 
that I was able to read distinctly in crossing St. Isaac's 
Square. I met at Nesselrode's for the first time the 
celebrated Speranski, who, under Alexander, systemized 
the laws, gave offence to the boyars, fell into disgrace, 
and was some time in Siberia. His head and entire 
figure — a tall, slim, bald-headed man in black — reminded 
me strongly of Mr. Robert M. Taylor, of Philadelphia. 
Count Nesselrode leaves here for Berlin on Tuesday next. 



lOO DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

1838. June 7. — The son of Baron Steiglitz called 
while I was yet at breakfast to inform me of what had 
just occurred at Mrs. Wilson's boarding-house. A 
young Bostonian, recently arrived, by the name of Hall 
had attempted to destroy himself by cutting his throat 
with a razor; he inflicted some deep gashes, but failed 
to effect his purpose. Information of the fact having 
been sent to the police, its agents were in attendance, 
and were about removing him to an Imperial hospital. 
I immediately went over and visited the unfortunate 
man. He was lying in bed on his back ; the wounds 
had been sewed up and bandaged ; he had bled profusely, 
but the redness of his face indicated considerable fever; 
the officers of police were engaged in drafting a proces- 
verbal, and had their surgeon with them. Several 
American captains were present, — Captain Dwyer, Cap- 
tain Trask. I immediately inquired into the nature of 
the wounds, the ability of the man to bear removal, the 
character of the hospital, and the manner in which he 
would probably be treated, etc. He was himself anxious 
to be sent, and the physicians and all his companions 
thought he would be far better off if he went to the 
hospital. Mrs. Wilson, too, said it was impossible for 
her to have him properly nursed at her house. On the 
whole, I thought the removal the only step that could 
be taken to secure his life, especially as the police-officer 
assured me that he should be vigilantly guarded against 
the paroxysm of fever and be most carefully attended. 
He was taken to the hospital about two o'clock. Mr. 
Chew went there at four in order to see that all was right. 

1838. June 8. — Mr. Chew reports that poor Hall is 
quite contented with his accommodations and is prom- 
ising very well. 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 101 

1838. June 15. — Attended the funeral service of Ro- 
dofinikine at the Monastery of St. Alexander Nefsky. 
It lasted for nearly three hours. The number of offici- 
ating priests was about twelve, of whom two appeared 
of high rank by the richness of their tiaras and vest- 
ments, and by the deference with which they were 
treated. The ceremonies were excessively monotonous 
and tiresome, seeming to involve much of superstition 
and much of image reverence. The kissing the hands, 
the garments, and the feet of certain of the priests was 
incessant; and the pictures of saints, the book of prayer, 
and even the tables and their carpeting underwent the 
same frequent endearment. A dirge was admirably 
sung by a numerous choir without any instrumental 
music. One voice, that of an active officiating priest, 
indicated prodigious power, and transcended even that 
of Angrisani. The body lay in state under a gorgeous 
canopy of crimson velvet and gold surmounted with 
crimson and white plumes. The coffin, which rested on 
a platform raised four or five feet by steps from the floor, 
was of rich scarlet cloth worked with gold and edged 
with gold lace ; its seam was marked by double rows of 
white lace two or three inches deep. During the cere- 
monies a heavy drapery of cloth of gold covered the 
lower part of the coffin, which was removed, when the 
coffin was taken to a side door, opened, and earth thrown 
upon the body. During a portion of the time every 
person present held a wax taper, and before the coffin was 
moved the kindred and servants of the deceased went up 
the steps and kissed it. It is unfair to form or express 
an opinion as to ceremonies of this sort, without under- 
standing the meaning of their various parts; it certainly 
did not appear to produce the slightest appropriate im- 



102 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

pression upon any who witnessed it. The deceased was 
furnished with a passport and a dish of rice pudding ! 

1838. June 16. — The Imperial standard unexpectedly 
waves over the palace of Anischoff. His Majesty has 
taken his good city by surprise ; it is said also that he 
returns from an abrupt incog, visit to Stockholm, where 
he remained but a few hours. 

1838. June 19. — Having procured from Count Can- 
crin an introductory note, we all went at one o'clock to 
visit the Mint and Church within the Fortress opposite 
the Marble Palace. 

The church is exceedingly rich in its interior decora- 
tions ; the altar-piece and ornaments being either of gold 
or splendidly worked and gilded. Its walls are almost 
lined with standards taken during the wars of Alexander. 
The tombs of the Emperors and Empresses, in number 
eight or ten, are stationed on the floor in different parts 
of the church ; that of Alexander looks almost as ancient 
as that of Peter; they are of uniform size and height, 
oblong squares of granite or marble slabs about three 
feet high and six feet long; they are first covered with 
cloth of gold bordered with ermine, and then again with 
a woollen covering on which the initials of the deceased 
are worked ; medals were fastened on the top ; and two 
keys, one immense, probably of surrendered fortresses, 
lay on the tomb of Alexander. The steeple of this is 
celebrated for its golden covering, which to-day, as the 
sun was clear, shone too dazzlingly to be looked at. 

The Mint was interesting in all its details. The quan- 
tities of Siberian gold and silver collected in immense 
bars and huge square cakes exceeded expectation. We 
were furnished an English guide, who accompanied us 
throughout the establishment and explained the various 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 103 

processes that were in operation, by which the two 
metals were purified of each other, and, finally, stamped 
into coin. The machinery appeared to be extensive and 
admirable. In the department appropriated to medals 
we were gratified by being shown a series commemora- 
tive of the incidents of Alexander's reign, designed and 
executed by Count Tolstoi, himself the best die-sinker 
in the country. The reverse of every medal was the 
bust of the Emperor as Achilles. 

In a separate building we found, carefully preserved, 
the large boat alleged to have been constructed by Peter 
the Great himself. 

1838. June 29. — Went to the Alexandrofsky Theatre, 
in the Nefsky, fronting on the square between the Im- 
perial Library and the palace of Anischoff. This and 
the Great Theatre are two of the finest probably in the 
world. There are six tiers of boxes. The decorations 
and police are imperial throughout. The performances 
of this evening were in Russian, and, of course, unintel- 
ligible to us ; but we could perceive that one of them was 
a lively and ludicrous farce, descriptive of the sensation 
produced here by the appearance of Taglioni and of the 
press for admission to her representations. 

1838. July 3. — The revolt of Stockholm, consequent 
upon the punishment of a newspaper editor for some 
remark as to the manner in which the Emperor was 
treated on his last visit, appears to have been a serious 
affair; to have continued with various excesses for some 
days, and to have been accompanied with the loss of 
many lives. The last accounts leave the affair unfinished, 
and the artillery arrayed against the people. 

1838. July 6. — Mr. Daschkoff accompanied us this 
afternoon on a ride in search of a country-seat. We 



104 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

went across the islands to the mainland and visited a 
church recently built, which owed its structure to cir- 
cumstances of considerable interest. It is exceedingly 
pretty, and has just been erected by a rich noble lady 
of the name of Vassiltevich, the altar being placed on 
the very spot where her only son breathed his last. 
This young man, it appears, became enamoured of a 
female somewhat inferior to him in social position, and 
his mother inflexibly opposed the union. They were 
kept apart for some years, until, owing to one cause or 
another, he declined further intercourse with her; her 
brother challenged him ; they met two or three hundred 
yards from the spot on which the church stands, fired at 
about fifteen paces' distance, and both shots were fatal. 
Vassiltevich was carried to an inn which stood on the 
present site of the church, and shortly afterwards expired. 
His antagonist died on the field. The place of the duel 
is in a garden with trees and shrubbery around, and the 
precise spot of each combatant is marked by a flat, round 
block of granite about three feet in diameter and one 
foot high. The mother, whose wealth is boundless, 
actuated for some time by extreme hatred of the family 
of her son's destroyer, resolved to purchase the whole 
scene of action, to convert the battle-ground into prome- 
nade gardens, with the granite mementos mentioned, 
and to construct a church at which every prayer that was 
uttered should be accompanied by a curse upon the soul 
and family of her son's enemy. The priests interfered, 
and, after several years of persuasion, induced her to 
abandon the last part of her design, and, as both the 
young men had died without absolutions, to dedicate 
the edifice to both as a proof of her Christian forgive- 
ness. The columns, altar-pieces, and windows of stained 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 105 

glass, now in all their freshness, are very beautiful. It is 
called the Church of St. Vladimar. 

1838. July 13. — We visited to-day the encampment 
near the village of Krasno-Celo. The distance is ex- 
actly twenty-four versts, or, say, sixteen miles. We 
started with two carriages and four at half-past nine, and 
reached the village at eleven o'clock, and returned to a 
late dinner at six. The camp, which is regularly opened 
as soon as the summer begins, and is said to contain 
a force of about forty thousand, spreads itself on the 
heights to the east of the town, and in the form of a 
horseshoe extends about two miles. It is beautifully 
laid out. We drove through some of its principal sec- 
tions. As it is the birthday of the Empress, the soldiers 
were engaged in saying mass around the chapel of their 
respective quarters, and the solemn silence which pre- 
vailed while the thousands stood uncovered was exceed- 
ingly exemplary and impressive. The tents were all in 
the finest order of arrangement and cleanliness. The 
coup d'asil from the village was peculiarly fine. 

At ten o'clock to-night we ordered the carriage and 
drove to Kamenoi-Ostroffto witness a succession of fire- 
works prepared by the Princess Beloselsky in honor of 
the day. The crowd exceeded anything I ever beheld, 
covering the land and water as far as the eye could pierce, 
and forming, from the boats to the highest points of 
Hilagon near the Imperial chateau, a vast and dense 
amphitheatre of human beings. There must have been 
more than two hundred thousand present. The fire- 
works were arranged on the Christofsky beach, in front 
of the Beloselsky palace, and on the broad and smooth 
arm of the Neva, which divided Christofsky and Hilagon. 
The position was admirably chosen, and permitted every 



106 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN' DALLAS. 

one of the countless crowd to enjoy the entire exhibition. 
The brilliancy of the rockets, of the various fcitx de j'oie, 
of the revolving lights, and of the illuminated temples 
and pavilions, on the principal of which the name of 
Alexandra in capitals of fire was vividly conspicuous, 
exceeded expectations. 

1838. July 19. — Visited the Academy of Fine Arts, 
accompanied by Mrs. Dallas and my daughters. The 
collection of casts is remarkably fine, some of them of 
modern subjects. Devoted exclusively to the cultiva- 
tion and encouragement of native talent, the number of 
copies of celebrated paintings is large. An original one 
of great size has been placed in the Academy since my 
last visit, and purports to represent the arrival of the 
Grand Duchess Helen, after her marriage, at the Champ- 
de-Mars. Her likeness, in a coach drawn by eight horses, 
is strikingly good ; the front of the canvas is crowded 
with admirable miniatures of the distinguished persons, 
military and civil, who participated in the ceremony of 
the reception. The Emperor, on horseback, attended by 
a group, at the head of which appears the young Czaro- 
vitz, and the Ambassador of Austria, Count Ficquelmont, 
are faithfully delineated. The immense picture repre- 
senting the Emperor mounted on his bay charger, and 
in full military costume, whence the best engraved like- 
nesses are taken, improved upon further inspection ; the 
other figures are : nearest the Emperor on his left, the 
Czarovitz ; behind the Czarovitz, Count Cernicheff, the 
Minister of War; nearest the Emperor on his right, 
though a little in the rear, is Volkonsky ; next and 
prominent is the Grand Duke Michel ; next retreating is 
Count Benkendorff; and farthest, but forward, is Paske- 
vitch, Prince of Warsaw. The vast painting delineating 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 107 

the destruction of Pompeii attracted Mrs. Dallas's ad- 
miration ; its colours, however, are too glowing for my 
taste. 

1838. July 26. — Spent the day at Pavlovsky, agree- 
ably to the invitation of Countess Schimmelpenninck. 
Our time was made very pleasant by rides through the 
Imperial Park, and by visits to the monuments erected 
by the late Empress's mother, Marie, — one to her own 
parents, the King and Queen of Wiirtemberg, and the 
other to her husband Paul. The latter monument is 
remarkably beautiful and in fine taste; it is contained in 
a small Doric temple with colonnade of red granite col- 
umns in front, covering a large door of ornamented iron 
railing, directly opposite to which is the tomb. The 
tomb is composed of immense slabs of red porphyry, 
shaped pyramidally ; near the apex is a fine medallion 
of white marble, being an admirable head of the de- 
ceased Emperor; and below it on a platform of por- 
phyry, weeping at an urn, is an exquisitely chiselled 
female figure, on her knees and bending forward, repre- 
senting the widowed Empress; in front and below the 
platform is a large bass-relief of white marble repre- 
senting all the children, — Alexander seated on the right, 
clothed in armor, with casque off, in an ecstasy of grief, 
covering his face with his hands, while Constantine, 
Nicholas, and Michel approach to console him ; the 
young sisters are also drawing near; two of the elder 
ones, married, are mournfully retiring; an infant in a 
cloud, early deceased, beckons the figure of another sister 
who also died. The whole work is exceedingly neat and 
in capital preservation. It is placed in a very retired 
and silent part of the Park. We visited also the palace 
of the Pavilion of Roses. The palace was built by the 



108 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Empress Marie, and became her permanent residence 
after Paul's death. It has been religiously kept in the 
precise condition in which she left it, by the present 
Grand Duke Michel, who alleges that he cannot bear to 
live in a house which reminds him at every corner of his 
early happiness and of a parent whom he adored, and 
who resides in a comparatively wretched building at 
some distance from the palace. His true reason is the 
known lack of funds to renovate and modernize. The 
furniture is costly and beautiful, but not in the reigning 
fashion. Its tapestry is beautiful. Some of the paint- 
ings are very fine. The library is the precious apart- 
ment, and is much resorted to. The hall of reception 
is a vast square. Several of the cabinets were hung 
with the drawings, paintings, and plaster modellings of 
the Empress, whose sentiment was strongly displayed in 
the groupings of her children. As soon as I entered 
one of the rooms, I remembered instantly to have been 
in it before, though until that moment it had escaped 
my recollection ; it was the apartment in which twenty- 
five years ago I had been presented to the Empress 
mother. We returned home by the railroad at half-past 
eleven o'clock, having exceedingly enjoyed our excur- 
sion. 

1838. July 28. — On the invitation of the Marquis 
Carrega, I visited the Winter Palace, in order to see the 
progress of the building. We were accompanied by one 
of the superintendents. There is a wilderness of scaf- 
folding and a world of rubbish. Nothing intimates that 
the work can be thoroughly accomplished short of five or 
six years. The southern section may possibly be fitted up 
by next April, so as to admit the Imperial family. There 
are three thousand men employed on the building. 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. IO9 

1838. July 29. — Started at four p.m., and reached the 
country-seat of Mr. S. Cramer near the village and on 
the river Ochta at five, where we dined and remained 
until half-past nine. We were saluted by the American 
flag, which floated during our stay. The place is es- 
teemed the handsomest of which the environs can boast, 
and is said to have been built by the celebrated Potemkin. 
It is exceedingly showy in the style and structure of its 
apartments, and, though built of brick, seems fitted for 
fine and warm weather only. Mrs. Cramer has recently 
sold it to General Zerkazanet for two hundred and fifty 
thousand roubles, a price which must appear very low 
when it is remembered that it is but about seven miles 
from the city, easily accessible, and embraces about three 
thousand acres of land, two splendid dwelling-houses, 
and eighty male serfs with their families and villages. 
We here met the brother of Mr. Bodisco who is Russian 
Minister at Washington and a colonel in the Russian 
army. 

1838. August I. — At nine this morning we went to 
Cronstadt on board the steamboat, performing the pas- 
sage in about two hours. Our Consul, Mr. Lenartzen, 
apprised of our intention to come, had informed the 
Government, and everything that could contribute to our 
comfort and amusement was prepared. The Governor's 
aid, Colonel Romanoff, with the Consul and his eldest 
daughter, met us at the wharf, and after the other pas- 
sengers had landed, the steamboat was directed to take 
us on board the Admiral's frigate, the Aurora, lying at a 
distance. A barge of fourteen oars was also ready and 
taken in tow. The Aurora is a showy ship of in fact 
sixty guns, the upper-deck carronades, with a crew of 
four hundred men, four lieutenants and six midshipmen. 



110 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Great neatness and cleanliness were conspicuous; but 
the seamen were kept out of sight. An apparatus was 
shown me by the captain, which he said had been in use 
for five years back, — an immense air-pump which changed 
the atmosphere of every part of the ship below with great 
rapidity; the draught in its funnels, while the machine 
was in operation, was so great as to blow out one's 
handkerchief when put in. On leaving the Aurora to 
return to the steamboat, a salute was fired of thirteen 
guns. Having landed, we took to our barge and pro- 
ceeded to visit the immense new dry-dock, now rapidly 
completing. The work is truly an imperial one, — 
executed of fine granite and adapted to accommodate a 
ship of one hundred and twenty guns. The masonry is 
beautiful. The builder, General Foulon, was present, 
and his assistant, of the name of Wilson, exhibited and 
explained the drafts of the work. With the aid of an im- 
mense reservoir or well and steam enginery attached, it 
is computed that the dock may be emptied, after the ship 
is once floated in and fixed, in the course of thirty-six 
hours. There are a long range of other dry-docks, and 
these we saw to great advantage, crowded with a number 
of ships of the line undergoing all sorts of repairs. At 
the head of one of the docks, in a small building exclu- 
sively appropriated to it, we were shown a model of the 
entire island of Cronstadt and its harbour and adjacent 
castles and forts. This model consists of a sort of im- 
mense table of great solidity, on the smooth surface of 
which have been placed small wooden houses and other 
buildings indicating with the minutest accuracy every 
improvement. It presented to the eye exactly such a 
view as one might have of the island from a balloon two 
or three miles above it. We now quit our barge and 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. Ill 

proceeded in carriages to visit the arsenal and to ride 
around the walls. The veteran general in command at 
the arsenal, who received us in much state, accompanied 
by five or six of his aids, could not, unfortunately for us, 
speak any language but Russ, and our inquiries, pas- 
sing necessarily through Colonel Romanoff or the Con- 
sul, were on that account limited. The collection of 
military material here was very great. On the first floor 
were arranged the carriages of a thousand cannon with 
all their adjuncts and equipments; on the upper floor, 
muskets, swords, pistols, swivels, pikes, and small-arms 
of every possible description, were arranged in countless 
quantities, and in a most tasteful manner, reminding us 
of the display we had witnessed at the Tower in London, 
and surpassing that in everything, except perhaps in the 
number of muskets. On the adjoining field was a splen- 
did exhibition of five thousand pieces of ordnance, 
many of them of dazzling brass, of all calibres and sizes 
and shapes ; and these were flanked by mounds of cannon- 
shot and shells, which exceeded in number sixteen thou- 
sand. This show of iron force transcended anything I 
have seen. 

The singular and solid masonry of the walls, as we 
rode between them and the outer fosse, was well worth 
seeing ; and it was impossible not to notice everywhere 
that the Government was expending immense sums of 
money in ornamenting the island. Numerous ranges 
of superb barracks are finishing ; and brick parapets of 
great solidity are constructing. On one of the buildings 
a colonel of engineers seemed to take great pride in 
pointing out some inscriptions which indicated that three 
or four of the foundation-stones had been laid by the 
Emperor, Count Woronzow, Prince Volkonsky, etc. It 



112 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

is said that his Majesty annually appropriates four mil- 
lion roubles to the works of Cronstadt, for which he has 
long exhibited an unabated partiality, and which he says 
he will make a little St. Petersburg. It contains a per- 
manent population exceeding ten thousand. The mili- 
tary force on the island equals twenty thousand. A fleet 
could not approach with hostile intentions without having 
a thousand cannon pointed at it from the numerous forti- 
fications. Being cordially entertained at dinner by Mr. 
Leonartzen and his two daughters, we returned to the 
steamboat at six o'clock and reached home at nine. 

1838. August 17. — We started at half-past twelve and 
reached Pergola, the country residence of Prince Butera, 
at about half-past two. The distance is about eighteen 
versts, or twelve miles, in a northwestern direction. The 
situation is the finest we have yet seen, as there is some- 
thing like hill and dale. The estate, principally owned 
by the son of the Princess by her first husband, Count 
Shuvaloff, is extensive and highly improved. The dis- 
play of dahlias and other rich flowers is very great. The 
conservatories are large and supply tropical and other 
fruits at all seasons ; there are quantities of pineapples, 
peaches, nectarines, and grapes, ripening and ripe. The 
Princess, who has had the luck to have three husbands, 
erected to her second a handsome monument, which is 
surrounded by a small iron railing, preserved in undis- 
turbed tranquillity, and decorated with flowers. The 
monument is enclosed in a tomb, sodded and planted, 
and the marble is only perceptible through the grating 
of the door. It is said that she placed alongside of her 
husband's an open tomb for herself, and that some mali- 
cious personage, since her present marriage, visiting it, 
wrote within "for my next liusband" since which access 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 113 

has been denied, and the spot preserved from intrusion. 
Her second husband had been the tutor of the children 
by her first, and is spoken of in terms of great praise by 
those who knew him. He purchased his title of Count, 
and when dying expressed a wish to be interred among 
the noblesse at the Church of St. Alexander Nefsky ; but 
the Emperor Nicholas forbade it. Her eldest son, Count 
Shuvaloff, about nineteen or twenty, has recently returned 
from the wars in Circassia, where he received a wound 
in the breast. He is prepossessing, intelligent, and a very 
modest gentleman. The Princess has been building for 
some years back, and will now soon finish, a neat Gothic 
church on a hill within sight of the mansion. It is built 
of the soft stone found on her estate, which is yellowish 
with veins of blue, and has much the appearance of half- 
baked brick. We rambled in every direction through 
the park and other grounds enjoying the scenery and 
shrubbery and fresh air ; we were regaled with a dejeuner 
a la fonrcliette immediately after arriving, with a dinner 
at half-past four, and with tea and fruits at half-past eight, 
while in the intervals we frolicked with the mimic ice- 
hills, the swings, seesaws, bagatelles, etc. ; we reached 
home about half-past ten, delighted with our excursion. 

1838. August 20. — I accompanied my daughters to 
Pavlovsky. We spent the day at Count Schimmelpen- 
ninck's, and did not reach home again until half-past 
eleven at night. In the course of conversation I learned 
that the Count had studied the law, intending to practise 
it ; that the death of his father diverted him to commerce; 
that he became President of the Dutch East India Com- 
pany; was Secretary of State by appointment of the pres- 
ent King, and is a member of the first or upper house 
of the States-General. He is of opinion that there exist 

11 



114 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

several incurable defects in the existing constitution 
of Holland, which soon must produce its destruction; 
of these he referred particularly to the complicated pro- 
cess by which the members of the second or lower 
house of Legislature are chosen from the provinces, and 
the inability of the King, who alone originates and is re- 
sponsible for laws, without the intervention of ministers 
to enforce his methods or to avoid unpopularity when 
resisted and assailed. The upper house, created by the 
King alone, is merely for life, and having no hold upon 
popular sentiment, and no support, as in England, from a 
permanent and organized order, is esteemed a mere use- 
less agent of the monarch, and cannot, with any success, 
at any time or on any subject resist the popular branch. 
The Count's grandfather was Ambassador from Holland 
at Paris. His father was the last pensioner and became 
stone blind, and the family indulge a notion that Napo- 
leon, in order to get rid of him and to prepare the way 
for his brother, Louis, had a poisonous powder enclosed 
in a complimentary letter to him, by which he was in- 
stantly deprived of sight. The Count says that the 
Princess of Orange has been travelling in Germany this 
summer incog, under the title of Countess Van Buren. 

1838. October 8. — During the last two days the arrival 
of the Emperor with his whole family has been hourly 
expected on board his steamer, the Hercules, from Stettin. 
Preparations were made for their landing on the English 
Quay, and we have been kept on the qnivive. It is now 
ascertained that, having encountered a rough sea and the 
ladies suffering greatly, the whole party has landed on 
the coast and will travel hither by land. 

I returned the visit of Admiral Krusenstern and left 
with him a newspaper from the United States, contain- 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 115 

ing some paragraphs about our exploring expedition, in 
which he professes to take much interest. In the course 
of our conversation the Admiral likened the Circassians 
to our Cherokee and Creek Indians, and said that the 
frequency and cruelty of their incursions into Russia 
caused the present war, a war which Russia really felt 
no inclination to pursue, but was forced by a principle 
of self-preservation to aid. 

I visited Barante, the French Ambassador, who arrived 
with his family on Saturday evening last. He was 
very cordial, spoke eloquently about his journey up the 
Mediterranean, to Greece, to Constantinople, to Odessa, 
to the Crimea, and through Russia to Moscow. He 
has been treated throughout in a manner extremely flat- 
tering and agreeable. He asked me what was thought 
in the United States of the French blockade of the 
Mexican coast. I told him that we entertained very 
little doubt about its justice, as we ourselves were suf- 
ferers from Mexican misconduct ; but that we began to 
think that they were rather unnecessarily interfering 
with our commerce, and we did not think it quite com- 
patible with the honour and glory of so powerful a nation 
to be attacking, for an amount of damages less than a 
million of dollars, so young, so weak, so poor, and so 
distracted a republic as Mexico. " Well, but," said he, 
" what can be done with a country which has scarcely 
anything that can be called a government? We have 
no other resource." I said we had referred our contro- 
versy with Mexico to umpirage when we were on the 
eve of war ; he turned the conversation instantly, and told 
me he had just received the intelligence that the difficulty 
with Switzerland was at an end, that Louis Napoleon had 
quit that country. He intended that I should under- 



Il6 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

stand that the French cabinet had attained its object. I 
merely remarked that I had known some time ago that 
Louis Napoleon had obtained a passport for England, 
" but," said I, " was there not much false importance given 
to this business? Why exaggerate the consequence and 
fame and dangerous character of a man who is without 
abilities, and whose affair at Strasburg only made him 
ridiculous? In the United States such a person no one 
would ever dream of persecuting into importance ; he 
would be allowed to sink by his own weight." " That is 
true," he remarked, " of the United States, where order is 
so well and has been so long established that no one 
entertains the slightest apprehension of disturbances 
arising from political ambition ; but we in France have 
been kept in such a perpetual turmoil and suffering that 
we deem it the part of wisdom and prudence to take 
measures to crush or thwart everything of the sort as 
early as possible." 

Horace Vernet's picture, finished this year for the 
Emperor, is now in the Hermitage. Philip and I visited 
it to-day. It represents Napoleon reviewing his Imperial 
guard in the Thuilleries, behind the palace, between it and 
the celebrated triumphal arch on which were placed the 
four bronzed Venetian horses. The hero is followed by 
an immense throng of marshals, aids, etc., splendidly 
mounted and equipped, while he himself, on a superb 
white charger, is characterized by great simplicity of 
dress, a plain cocked hat without feather or cockade, 
white smallclothes, and with a face and figure which do 
his character and achievements entire justice. It is the 
finest portraiture of the wonderful man I have yet seen. 
He is in the act of slightly checking his horse at an 
extremity of one of the lines, as he beholds an old 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 117 

wooden-legged soldier, whose wounds in the head are 
yet bandaged, and who stands between two of his boys, 
stretching towards him a written petition. Murat's steed 
is as noble an Arabian as the imagination can possibly 
shadow forth. He was the only one of the train of 
whose identity I could entertain no doubt. The per- 
spective of the ranks of soldiers is admirably executed. 
As a painting, there is a boldness, spirit, correctness 
of colouring, and unity of design which cannot be 
surpassed. 

1838. October 9. — The Imperial standard is hoisted on 
the Anischoff palace, his Majesty and all his family 
having reached Sarsko-Selo yesterday afternoon. 

1838. October 19. — Escorted Mrs. Dallas to the Her- 
mitage in order to show her Vernet's review. It grows 
finer and finer the more it is examined. Eugene Beau- 
harnais is the splendid figure in green. In the same 
room, since my last visit, several delightful objects have 
been collected, no doubt lately purchased by the Em- 
peror. The two pieces of sculpture, The Bacchante, by 
Bienaime, and The Dying Psyche, by Tenerani, are ex- 
quisite : the former is inimitable. An Imperial review- 
on the Champ-de-Mars, by a Russian artist, seems to be 
put there as a set-off to Cruger and Vernet. It is an 
equally large canvas, crowded with figures, among which 
the Emperor, Empress, Grand Duchess Marie, Grand 
Duke Michel, Czarovitz, Counts Orloff, Benkendorf, etc., 
are easily recognized, but the painting is comparatively 
wretched. Bienaime's Bacchante is dated at Rome, 1838. 

1838. October 22. — Went, accompanied by Madame 
Daschkoff, to the Russian theatre, and witnessed one act 
of the Gazza Ladra, and Taglioni again in the Maid of 
the Danube. The Emperor and Empress were present. 



Il8 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

So were the Marquis and Marchioness Clanricarde, 
Baron and Baroness Barante, Count and Countess Rossi, 
etc. The Clanricardes promise very little. The Mar- 
quis is a tall, pale, and long-faced, bald and awkward- 
looking man with a repulsive physiognomy; and his 
wife, with marked features and fashionable air, would 
seem very much like a spoiled and dashing beauty whose 
colour had faded under the effect of a family of nine 
children. 

1838. November 1. — I visited old Mr. Poletica this 
morning, and found him unwell from a severe cold which 
suddenly attacked him yesterday. He has spent, during 
the last summer, three weeks at Constantinople, probably 
to unite his efforts with those of other Russian diplomats 
in order to prevent, if possible, the recently announced 
treaty between Turkey and England, which would seem 
to remove the Sultan from under the control of the 
Czar, and to subject him to French and British influ- 
ence, the latter guaranteeing to him the dependence of 
Mehemet Ali. Mr. Poletica remembers but little of our 
country ; has, perhaps, never been its friend, and is wholly 
ignorant of the real character of its recent history. He 
meddled with more art and success than candour in for- 
mation of the treaty of 1824, by which Mr. Middleton 
has entailed upon the relations of Russia and America 
an embarrassing, if not incurable, source of strife. He 
is undoubtedly a man of talent, information, and experi- 
ence. He enjoys considerable repute as a member of 
the Senate of the Empire, and as a business drudge, but 
his temper is apt to be violent and overbearing, and his 
prejudices are wholly insurmountable. He told me that 
he had long ceased to have any correspondence with the 
United States : but he showed me, hanging up in his 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 19 

apartment, a striking miniature likeness of Mr. Gallatin, 
which had been executed for him by a lady of Geneva, 
and a bad oil painting of President Washington, which 
he had brought with him from America. Washington 
and Gallatin made to unite in the taste of a Russian 
" Litterateur et homme d'affaires" as symbols of our 
republic ! 

At Count Nesselrode's, last evening, I had a long and 
somewhat interesting conversation with Baron Brunoff, 
who holds an important post in the Department of 
Foreign Affairs. He accompanied the Vice-Chancellor 
to the coronation of the Austrian Emperor, this summer, 
at Milan. He invited me to explain the cause of Presi- 
dent Jackson's hostility to the Bank, and listened atten- 
tively to the detail, expressing a lively astonishment, at 
its close, that the subject had never before been so clearly 
and satisfactorily stated. He said that he had heretofore 
ascribed the controversy to some personal motive of 
Jackson's ; but that he now perceived distinctly that it 
had its foundation in the settled principles of our Demo- 
cratic party. Mr. Schwastoff, he said, had informed him 
that in the United States any corporation or individual 
might issue paper currency or notes, and that people 
were bound by law to accept these in payment of debts ! I 
explained the temporary effect of a suspension of specie 
payments, and of the consequent panic, but removed 
the absurdity of Mr. Schwastoff. He then complained 
that it proved very difficult to get correct ideas of the 
state of things in America; that Baron Krudener had 
certainly formed many false notions from habits of re- 
serve in personal intercourse, and perhaps from his defect 
in hearing. I pointed out, as the great source of delu- 
sion on this side of the Atlantic as to matters in America, 



120 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

the habit of relying upon extracts made by English edi- 
tors from our commercial newspapers ; these newspapers 
being in trading towns along the sea-coast, dependent 
upon the patronage and uttering the language of bankers 
and traders only, while the great voice of the interior 
and governing people never reached Europe, except in 
its effects, — that is, in their constant political triumphs. 
After a very long talk he expressed himself extremely 
obliged to me for the views I had given. His wife is a 
lady of Stockholm, of great early beauty. He is him- 
self devoted to business, and has the air, when met 
in society, of a man perfectly exhausted by his day's 
drudgery. 

1838. November 2. — We went late this evening to 
visit the family of Mr. Bludoff, Minister of the Interior. 
This gentleman, who I should take to be about sixty, is 
much esteemed for ability and great devotion to his 
official duties. He resembles in figure, without being 
quite as stout or ungraceful, Mr. Woodbury. He has a 
wife, a son, and a daughter. He has neither nobility nor 
wealth to recommend him, though probably highly con- 
nected. His present residence is a splendid palace in 
the rear of the Alexandrina Theatre, recently fitted up 
as the official residence of whoever may fill his post. It 
is built and furnished in a style suited only to an occu- 
pant of an immense fortune, capable and willing to 
entertain sumptuously. What an inconvenient position 
to place a man in ! He lives and has his chancery on 
the first floor, his wife on the second floor, and his 
daughter on the third floor, — each floor being an endless 
suite of vast and gorgeous apartments, adapted to receive 
the Imperial court. The mother and daughter are quite 
attractive persons ; neither of them having any personal 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 121 

beauty, but both, the latter particularly, having much 
intelligence and great amiability. 

1838. November 4. — Dr. Lefevre being on a visit to 
us this morning, I took occasion to inquire as to the 
received opinions here on the subject of the Homoeo- 
pathic system of medicine. He spoke of it with great 
candour, and with obvious knowledge on the subject. 
He said that some time ago the hope of saving about three 
millions of roubles per annum in drugs, etc., induced the 
government to try the system in some of the military hos- 
pitals ; it there failed entirely, the patients died in count- 
less numbers. The small doses are totally inefficacious 
where the disorder is fixed and serious. In ordinary 
practice complaints are light, nervous, and transient, and 
the homoeopath may therefore often seem to produce 
effects which time and a little care would accomplish. He 
is inflexible in exacting, as a part of his prescription, 
scrupulous attention to diet, exercise, clothing, early 
sleep, etc., and these achieve infinitely more than his 
medicines. To a certain extent, therefore, the system is 
useful. But Lefevre suggests that the homoeopath does 
what the regular physician never does, and what there- 
fore leaves the practice open to suspicion and doubt, — he 
is his own apothecary or compounder, and takes from 
his pocket what he directs to be swallowed. No one, 
therefore, knows exactly what or how much he adminis- 
ters. He writes out no prescription and is unchecked 
by a scientific druggist; nevertheless the doctor thinks 
that the system enjoys favour here, and is probably ad- 
vancing in estimation. 

Count Rossi, who arrived here about two weeks 
since as Minister from the King of Sardinia, and who 
visited us this evening, is a remarkably handsome man, 



122 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

apparently nearly forty years of age. Six feet high, with 
a figure like that of Christopher Hughes, though more 
erect and compact, and with blue eyes, light hair, and 
soft, florid complexion ; his manners are well formed and 
polished, and he produces an agreeable impression; 
he speaks English, though indifferently. He spoke of 
knowing Mr. Davezac, our Minister formerly at the 
Hague (at present, I believe, also), and has certainly a just 
conception of his character. He had also well known Mr. 
and Mrs. Browne while they were in Paris, and upon 
being told their unhappy fate, manifested feeling and 
respect. 

1838. November 5. — The presentation at the British 
Ambassador's was attended this evening. We went at 
half-past eight o'clock en grande tettue, as the etiquette 
of the occasion demanded. I am told that this cere- 
monial, as a means of introducing the highest grade of 
diplomatic functionaries to their colleagues and to the 
fashionable world, is peculiar to this Court. Marquis of 
Clanricarde is a tall, thin man, somewhat bald, with a fine 
eye and prepossessing manner; his features are awk- 
wardly set together, and produce an unfavourable impres- 
sion at first. Lady Clanricarde, the daughter of Canning, 
and the mother of seven children, is thoroughly English 
in figure, style, expression, and speech; her features are 
prominent, and indicate intelligence as well as past beauty. 
He is about thirty-nine and she about thirty-five years of 
age. He looks perhaps younger than he is ; she, on the 
contrary, seems older than she is. Their reception of our 
party was certainly kind. The whole of Butera's second 
floor was thrown open, and the stairway thronged with 
Russians dressed in splendid English liveries. The visit- 
ors were not as numerous as I expected to find them ; 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 23 

but probably a number have reserved themselves for to- 
morrow night, which is embraced by the invitation. I 
recognized Mr. Buchanan, who is secretary or attache to 
the Embassy, as having been in America with Sir Charles 
Vaughan. He told me that Sir Charles had been ap- 
pointed Ambassador to Constantinople, but owing to 
some sudden cause had never gone there ; that he had, 
however, obtained the rank, and was now content to retire 
upon the pension incident to it. 

1838. November 7. — The career of entertainments be- 
gan to-day by a dinner of the French Ambassador ; Mrs. 
Dallas and myself present. There were forty-eight at 
table, among whom were Count and Countess Nessel- 
rode, Count and Countess Woronzow, Count Charni- 
cheff, Prince Volkonsky, the Marquis and Marchioness 
of Clanricarde, with all the rest of the diplomatic lead- 
ing missions, Princess Beloselsky, Princess Soltikoff, 
etc. Prince Kosloffsky, who came in after dinner, in- 
formed Mrs. Dallas that the Empress had appeared at 
the great theatre last night, and had introduced her 
daughter the Grand Duchess Marie (I presume by the 
peculiar style of her dress) to the public as about 
becoming a bride. 

1838. November 9. — Mrs. Daschkoff visited Mrs. Dallas 
to-day, full of the gossip of the town. The Russians 
dislike the British Ambassador and Ambassadress. 
Their presentation of Tuesday evening last was attended 
by very few, and her Ladyship has been exceedingly in- 
dignant. Her manner is represented as excessively 
haughty and cold, as indicating an extravagant self- 
esteem. She dressed, too, in full black, which Russians 
construe as opposite to the joy and pride with which 
she ought in her appearance to welcome her visitors. 



124 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Her husband, too, has shocked the nerves of the moral 
fashionables of this Court by the arrival of his mistress 
on the last steamer; he thinks, too, of nothing but hunts 
and races, and wants the dignity of an Ambassador. 

1838. November 13. — The water of the Neva rose 
during the night under the influence of a strong south- 
westerly wind, and at ten o'clock this morning was 
swollen five feet above its customary level. It appeared 
in the streets, through the gratings of the common 
sewers. Having advanced just far enough to awaken 
anxiety, it suddenly receded and fell. 

A combination of incidents and reflections strongly 
impels me to the belief that a war between England and 
Russia is on the eve of explosion. The movements in 
India indicate an apprehension that the Russian forces 
are uniting with those at Persia to assist the native 
princes to change their masters. Russia is perceptibly 
mortified, if not angered, by the ascendency which Eng- 
land has recently exercised over the counsels of the 
Turkish Sultan and of the Austrian Emperor. England 
is exasperated by the results of the blockade of the 
coast of Circassia; by the progress of Don Carlos in 
Spain, traceable almost exclusively to the aid, moral 
and material, of Russia; and by the gradual but certain 
development of Russian manufactures. The Ministry, 
too, must make some appeal to the loyalty and prejudices 
of the country, or they are gone. In the late Globe, the 
Emperor has been personally and most violently assailed, 
and this is the special paper of Lord Palmerston ; and 
I cannot avoid observing that the new British Ambassa- 
dor, Marquis Clanricarde, has been received with cold- 
ness, if not neglect. There is also existing among the 
lower classes, the merchants, officers of the army, etc., 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. I25 

a feverish sense of impending conflict. Suppose this 
war to come, what may be its effects upon the United 
States? Its effects upon our commerce with this empire 
would seem to be obvious and immediate. It must 
wholly cease. There are few Russian ports, and their 
natural difficulty of access would be made insurmount- 
able by the vexations of British blockades. The trade, 
too, which cannot be carried on here will probably be 
drawn by England towards herself; we shall sell her the 
cotton, tobacco, and sugar which would otherwise be 
brought here to be exchanged for Russian products. 
Politically we might soon be drawn into the conflict ; 
Russia would re-excite the Canadians; impressment 
would come again into practice ; it would be seen that 
we could avail ourselves of the opportunity to dispose 
of the northeast boundary question, the northwest 
boundary, etc. 

1838. November 15. — The first soiree of the season 
at Count Woronzow's was numerously and brilliantly 
attended; Mrs. Dallas accompanied me. The British Am- 
bassadors and Ambassadresses with their respective 
suites, the rest of the diplomatic corps, Monseigneur 
the Grand Duke Michel, Count and Countess Strogo- 
noff, recently Ambassadorial representatives from this 
Court at the Coronation of Queen Victoria, etc., were 
present. General Tschitcherine intimated that the Mar- 
quis of Clanricarde was not held in high estimation 
here, that his private character was believed to be bad, 
and it was said that he had been separated from his wife 
for some time. I was congratulated on the news from 
the United States by Mr. Buchanan. The messenger 
of Galignani and a letter received from Mr. Benjamin 
Rush contain intelligence of the successful result in the 



126 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

elections of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and 
probably Georgia. These States, added to those already 
certain — Maine, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Ala- 
bama, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, and Arkansas — con- 
stitute a squadron which leaves no room for future 
apprehension as to the national administration. I trust 
David R. Porter's majority is sufficiently decisive. My 
prediction has always been that it would exceed twenty 
thousand. I took care by a conversation with Count 
Brunoff that Count Nesselrode should hear my views 
of the conclusive character of these elections, as I have 
sometimes thought that an impression prevailed here 
that our Democratic ascendency was on the eve of ex- 
tinction. I beat Count Litta a capital game of chess. 

1838. November 16. — It snowed considerably this 
evening and the frost seems steadily advancing. We 
went to the soiree of Princess Razoumoffsky. It was 
but partially attended. She is a lady of about sixty, of 
unincumbered personal position, of apparently great sta- 
bility of health, and of about five hundred thousand 
roubles " de rentes." Her parties are regularly given 
every Friday throughout the year, in town or in the 
country. Her rooms, about ten in succession, are not 
large; but they are ornamented with a luxury and pro- 
fuse expenditure not to be surpassed. The folding- 
doors opening into her " cabinet," chambre a coucher, 
" a bain," are rich beyond conception, and attracted uni- 
versal attention ; their substance seemed to be a sort of 
rose amber, richly inlaid. I beat Mr. Tschitcherine at 
chess. 

No book could have given me more amusement than 
I have derived during the last week from Chateaubri- 
and's " Congress of Verona." It is in two good-sized 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. \2J 

octavos. The objects of the author would seem to be a 
vindication of his statesmanship while Minister in the 
department of Foreign Affairs in i822-'23-'24, a period 
of about sixteen months, under Louis the XVIII.; a 
claim to the exclusive merit of the war waged success- 
fully by France against Spain for the deliverance of 
King Ferdinand from the power of the Cortes ; and a 
development of the views and operations of the author 
in reference to the question of the independence of the 
American Spanish colonies ; an exhibition of the man- 
ner in which he was dismissed and a denial of his having 
intrigued for the place of Count Villele, then at the head 
of the Ministry. The manner in which this most elo- 
quent writer pursues these purposes is extremely attrac- 
tive. To be sure, he manifests all the conceited egotism 
and much of the deceitfulness of the French politician; 
but his fancy is so rich, his political imagery and diction 
are so glowing and soft, his recurrence to classical rem- 
iniscences are so frequent and agreeable, the original 
letters and documents which he publishes, interspersed 
in his narrative, are so interesting, and his delineations 
of the most remarkable personages of his official time 
are so vivid and true, that I think he has produced two 
volumes which surpass Wraxall or Cumberland. The 
Congress of Verona was one of those regular royal con- 
spiracies against constitutional forms of government and 
popular rights of which we have seen many, and are 
destined to see more before the struggles of the two 
principles can possible cease. At it were convened not 
merely great sovereigns, one of whom, Alexander of 
Russia, was really great, but there were also Wellington, 
Metternich, Nesselrode, and Chateaubriand, — names 
destined to long fame. It is striking, if not alarming, to 



128 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

find this Congress entertained, even for a moment, the 
idea of planting in Mexico and Colombia a race of Bour- 
bon monarchs. We had a more direct interest in these 
princely combinations than we imagined. The rapid 
sketch of the life and character of the autocrat is very 
fine; the pervading hostility towards the Austrian states- 
man is a redeeming feature; and the letters of Cobbett 
and Canning are as characteristic and admirable as pos- 
sible. There is, on the whole, to be sure, a most appalling 
picture of heartless political cunning and duplicity, but 
ill assorted with the conscious immortality and daring 
independence of the author of " La Genie du Chris- 
tianisme." 

1838. November 18. — Baron Manderstrom, Baron 
Schleinitz, Marquis Carrega, Mr. Buchanan, and Mr. 
Chew dined with me to-day, and remained unusually 
long. It would seem to be understood that the Emperor 
of Russia will quit this for Moscow on Wednesday next 
with the Duke de Leuchtenberg ; that the marriage of 
the Grand Duchess Marie will not take place before 
the first week in July next, and that the sovereigns 
of Austria and Prussia will attend it. Mr. Buchanan 
condemned the resignation of Lord Durham with great 
warmth, and was convinced that on his arrival in England 
he would be denounced by all parties. 

1838. November 22. — Mr. S. Cramer, whom I visited 
this evening, informed me that a most remarkable in- 
cident in the trade from St. Petersburg had occurred this 
fall, of which he knew no example during his forty years' 
activity as a merchant. All the hemp brought for export 
had been purchased and shipped to England at nearly 
twice the ordinary price; and all the tallow. The orders 
had been thus numerous and extravagant owin^ to the 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 29 

prevailing opinion in England that a war would break 
out with this country. There is in mercantile sagacity, 
the keenness of self-interest, something that foretells the 
future as surely as anything else. 

An event of a singular character has set us all specu- 
lating. The Emperor in a single-horse sledge, without 
any attendant, was seen to stop at the British Embassy 
and to go in. He stayed for half an hour. Was this a 
visit to the Ambassador or to his lady ? What does it 
mean ? Is it in order to crush at once the rumour of an 
impending war? or is it the last civility preparatory to 
hostilities? One is apt to scan closely the most trifling 
actions of so eminent a personage, especially in connec- 
tion with public characters. And yet his Majesty is 
really so fond of personal eccentricity of movement, 
liking to surprise and to go where least expected, that 
nothing can be safely deduced from his individual acts. 
He has started this evening, though it snows rapidly, for 
Moscow, accompanied by his intended son-in-law, the 
Duke of Leuchtenberg, planning to be two days in going, 
four days in remaining, and two days in returning. 

1838. November 26. — The ball of Madame Boutourlin. 
We went at near eleven o'clock and returned at half-past 
three. The Grand Duke Michel was there, and all the 
diplomatic corps. Boutourlin, who prides himself upon 
his collection, and who, by the by, is the author of the 
" Russian Campaign to Paris," has got, within the last 
few months, from Rome a beautiful piece of sculpture 
by Bartolini ; it is a female slave seated upon her lower 
legs, in a position scarcely practicable by even Taglioni, 
with her hands joined near her knees, and her head 
thrown a little upwards and backwards. The figure is 
perfectly naked, perhaps rather too thin, but on the 

12* 



130 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

whole graceful, soft, and effective. The richness of 
choice Parian marble, when fresh, can scarcely be 
imagined by those who have not seen it. 

1S38. December 1. — Dined at five p.m. with the Minister 
from Denmark, Baron Blome. He is an old bachelor 
seventy years of age; Danish in every part of his ap- 
pearance; prominent features, large mouth, florid com- 
plexion, weak eyes, red and powdered hair; mild and 
agreeable in his manners and conversation ; very rich 
and hospitable. His eyes are so bad he cannot go out 
at night, and in his own house every light is carefully 
shaded. He has resided at this port for forty years. Is 
the indefatigable attendant at all military reviews, wear- 
ing scarlet and white with countless crosses and stars, 
and is almost a universal favourite. The French and 
British Ambassadors were the chief guests, Count Nes- 
selrode being unwell and absent. A number of Rus- 
sians were at table, among them Count Litta, Count 
Borsh, Zavadowsky, Obriscoff, Prince Kosloffsky. 

1838. December 4. — Mr. Soltikoff, while spending this 
evening with us, narrated several anecdotes with great 
spirit, which it may be worth while to preserve. He is 
a man about sixty-five years of age, of immense wealth, 
and of great talent, it is said. He was formerly high in 
Imperial favour, but, owing to some personal indiscretion 
in his manners at court, he was obliged to retire, at least 
from intimacy. It is a fact remarkably illustrative of 
the little attention which the United States receive from 
European savans, that Mr. Soltikoff, although unques- 
tionably eminent for ability and erudition, and though he 
has a copy of the Declaration of Independence, with auto- 
graph signatures, hanging up in his library, did not know 
that General Washington had ever been President, but 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 131 

thought that he had retired wholly from public affairs, 
from the peace of 1783 to the period of his death ! He 
would hardly believe me when I assured him that he had 
been our chief magistrate for eight years under the ex- 
isting Constitution. Mr. Soltikoff says that the inunda- 
tion of the Neva in 1824 was very sudden and incon- 
ceivably disastrous in its effects. He occupied the house 
in which he now lives in the Small Moscoy, and was 
sitting at his office-table sealing some letters and pack- 
ages. He had felt an unusual coldness in his feet ; he 
rang the bell for his servant, and ordered him to take 
some letters to the post-office, and to his utter amaze- 
ment he received for answer that it was impossible, as 
the waters were six feet high in the streets and still 
rushing upwards. He had scarcely been told this before 
the floor on which he stood burst and opened and the 
waters rose in his apartment up to his own middle ; he 
scrambled up-stairs, directing that nothing should be 
removed ; this swell lasted for about six hours. The 
Emperor Alexander was born in 1777, a year memorable 
by a similar inundation, and when that of 1824 occurred, 
he said it announced his approaching end, and became 
an altered man. Soltikoff describes the change as 
striking and distressing; the calamity seemed to be 
forever present in all its horror to his mind, and to 
weigh him down. One melancholy incident he particu- 
larly dwelt upon, that of an old woman whom he saw 
while he was wandering about to relieve the sufferers, 
and who was eagerly searching for the corpse of a young 
and only grandson. The Emperor offered her ten thou- 
sand roubles, which she declined receiving, saying she 
wanted nothing but the body, and continued to weep 
and search, when suddenly she espied the object of her 



132 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

pursuit covered with dirt and rubbish, and rushed to it 
frantic with delight, and embraced and clung to it in 
prolonged delirium. 

When, in the campaign of 1814, the allies entered 
Paris, the Emperor Alexander separated himself from 
his staff, and, in the confidence of good intentions to- 
wards the French people, confidently rode alone and in 
advance. He was stopped by a knot of poissardes, one 
of whom advanced and presented him a handsome 
bouquet of flowers, saying that he was the only one of 
the monarchs whom they loved. 

During his stay at Paris, Alexander was in the habit 
of almost daily visiting the Empress Josephine at Mal- 
maison ; and, indeed, it was owing to his energetic friend- 
ship at the Congress of Vienna that Eugene Beauharnais, 
Duke of Leuchtenberg, was allowed to retain Bavaria. 
On one occasion, driving out to see the ex-Empress in 
his carriage, with four horses abreast, and galloping, as 
usual, he met a French officer in a rich curricle and pair. 
The Frenchman would not yield the road, but cried out, 
" Give way ! give way !" and the consequence was that 
when the two equipages encountered the curricle was 
overturned and broken to pieces, its horses knocked 
down and much wounded, and their owner thrown out, 
rendered perfectly furious with rage. The Emperor 
alighted immediately, begged the officer's pardon, hoped 
he was not hurt, and ascribed the disaster to the careless- 
ness of his coachman. "No!" was the reply. "You 
are doubtless one of those who have conquered our 
capital, and you think to ride rough-shod over us; but 
I will not submit to such indignities and wrongs. I de- 
mand the satisfaction due to an insulted man. There is 
my address, and I expect to see you by eleven o'clock 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 33 

to-morrow morning." "Agreed," said his Majesty; 
"you shall be satisfied." Early the next day the Em- 
peror sent General KissiliefT to the Frenchman with a 
splendid curricle and two of his finest horses, requesting 
him to accept them in lieu of the injured ones. At first 
the Frenchman haughtily declined, saying that he waited 
the personal presence of General Kissilieff's friend and 
associate, and would receive nothing but the satisfaction 
of an apology or a duel. He was thunderstruck, says 
Mr. Soltikoff, and overwhelmed, when KissiliefT replied, 
" That is impossible. My friend is his Majesty the Em- 
peror of Russia." 

1838. December 6. — This, according to the Greek cal- 
endar, is St. Catherine's Day, and therefore the " Name's 
Day" of all ladies Catherine. Much is made of the 
Name's Day, and complimentary visits of felicitation are 
all the go. The name of Catherine is a favourite one in 
the fashionable circle. We manifested our attention to 
the custom by going at nine in the evening to Princess 
Hohenlohe's. We met there Madame YouskofT, the 
mother of the Princess, Princess Sophia Modene, her 
sister, Madame Paschkoff, Marquis De Villafranca, Mar- 
quis De Carrega, and a few others. Hohenlohe showed 
me his whole house, into which he has just removed; 
it is the property of his wife. 

I do not recollect to have seen the following anecdote, 
which is given me as illustrative of the political finesse 
of the Empress, Catherine II., but which is probably an 
invention. Charles J. Fox had for some time been very 
hostile to Russia and its sovereign in the House of 
Commons. The Empress gave a large entertainment at 
the Hermitage, to which she invited several distinguished 
Englishmen who happened to be here at the time. In 



134 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

one of the rooms there was a plaster cast of Fox, which 
was surrounded by busts of Cicero, Demosthenes, etc., 
and in this apartment, and near the busts, the Empress 
had engaged herself at whist. In the course of the 
evening her English guests sauntered into her neighbour- 
hood, and, seeing the cast, expressed aloud to each other 
their surprise. The Empress frowned, listened for a 
moment, and then said to them, " What ! gentlemen, are 
you surprised to see that bust in the midst of the great- 
est orators ? Do you think me incapable of doing justice 
to an enemy ? I can give Mr. Fox the rank to which 
his wonderful ability entitles him, even while I suffer 
under its exertions." These words were carefully re- 
ported to Fox, who soon afterwards became the Parlia- 
mentary friend and eulogist of Catherine. The plaster 
cast soon gave way to one of marble and another of 
bronze. 

1838. December 8. — The celebrated Court choir was 
visited to-day during one of its public rehearsals. This 
musical band — altogether vocal — is especially assigned 
to the Imperial chapel. It is said to consist of about 
one hundred and fifty voices, though we certainly had 
not more than sixty this morning, of whom twenty were 
boys between the ages of ten and thirteen. These chor- 
isters are selected with great care in every part of the 
empire, by virtue of a standing order which directs 
that the discovery of a remarkably fine voice in child or 
adult shall be immediately followed by his being for- 
warded to St. Petersburg. They are taught and ex- 
ercised with great care ; they are said to make the finest 
sacred harmony witnessed in Europe. It is so perfect 
as to resemble a rich and magnificent organ. I could 
scarcely, at first, believe that what I heard was the human 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 35 

voice alone. The effect produced .upon those who arc 
peculiarly sensitive to music is overpowering ; some have 
wept, others fainted. The two Embassies and Countess 
Strogonoff were there, but the audience was mixed and 
did not exceed four hundred. 

1838. December 13. — At half-past ten went to a ball at 
Count Levaschoffs. It was exceedingly brilliant. Prince 
Hohenlohe apprised me that the diplomatic body would 
be invited to attend the ceremony of affiancing the 
Grand Duchess Marie and the Duke De Leuchtenberg 
on Sunday next, with their respective ladies. This 
necessarily involves a special and unexpected expendi- 
ture of at least two hundred and fifty dollars, which I 
can no more avoid than I could avoid returning the 
Emperor's salute as I pass him in the street, and yet I 
am expected to meet all such charges out of my salary ! 

I met at Count Levaschoffs Count Frederick Pahlen, 
formerly Minister in the United States. He has been 
here for two weeks only, usually residing in the country, 
and I heard by mere accident of his being in the room. 
He saluted me with great cordiality, remembered the 
hospitality of my father, and inquired about many whom 
he knew in the United States. I cannot say that I should 
have ever recognized him. His manner is ardent, his 
hair light, his eyes blue, his complexion florid, his figure 
an easy and gentlemanly one, indicating a man turned 
of fifty, and he spoke English fluently. He has two 
brothers in Paris, one of whom had been with him in 
America. 

1838. December 14. — A printed programme of the 
ceremonies to be observed on the betrothment of the 
Grand Duchess Marie was sent to me by the Grand 
Master of Ceremonies early this morning. This subject 



I36 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

is now the absorbing one. The programme as a means 
of precise and practical information is defective in several 
particulars ; it does not expressly mention the Ambas- 
sadors ; it does not specially provide for the disposition 
of the wives of the Foreign Ministers; and it leaves an 
impression that the secretaries and attaches are to be 
excluded in the parade. In the course of the day we 
have also received two invitations, one addressed to 
myself, in language that would seem to embrace the 
secretary of legation, and the other addressed to Mrs. 
Dallas. 

During the long and interesting tetc-a-tete with General 
Tschitcherine, several characteristic anecdotes of Lord 
Durham were told. Tschitcherine was his personal 
friend, and on all occasions of excitement his confidential 
adviser. Durham he describes as a man of fine abilities 
and an fond of excellent intentions, but subject to violent 
excesses of passion and of inordinate vanity. He set 
out with the determination to make himself individually 
acceptable to the Emperor, who had delighted him by 
his manners on visiting the frigate on which he arrived 
in Cronstadt. When the recovery of the Emperor from 
the accident of overturning his carriage, by which his 
arm was broken, was announced, Durham resolved, if 
possible, to make his personal congratulations. He 
called on Tschitcherine, and, disclaiming all diplomatic 
motive or purpose, asked how he could accomplish his 
desire. The General proposed his going with him at once 
to Peterhoff, and there ascertaining what could be done. 
They started immediately, and on their arrival waited 
upon Prince Volkonsky, who was at first entirely at a loss 
how to act. Durham suggested the expedience of his 
passing off as a sort of messenger sent for inquiry by 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 



137 



the Chasseur of the British Ambassador, as a mode which 
would get rid of forms. The plan was frankly stated to 
the Emperor, who laughed at its ingenuity, and kept him 
for several days at the palace. 

Lady Mary Lambson, the daughter of Durham, rode 
out on horseback accompanied only by her brother-in- 
law. On passing through one of the gates of the city, 
the sentinel, as usual, and as ordered, not knowing them, 
offered to stop them merely to ascertain their object. 
This is always done as a mere matter of course. Lady 
Mary, however, probably unable to understand or be un- 
derstood, rode on without satisfying the soldier, who 
immediately dropped the huge bar to arrest her progress ; 
the bar fell on the rear of the horse, fortunately missing 
herself, but frightening and startling the animal. When 
this was reported to Durham, he became furious, flew to 
Tschitcherine, and, throwing himself into an arm-chair, 
gave vent to an ungovernable fit of passion, beginning 
with the exclamation, " What do you think ? One of your 
vagabond soldiery has been on the eve of killing my 
daughter!" Much time and persuasion were necessary 
before he could be calmed, and he dwelt with prolonged 
exasperation upon the fact that the sentinel had smiled or 
grinned when he saw the horse of Lady Mary Lambson 
start. Finally, it was agreed that he should make no 
mention of the subject at all, except to the Emperor in 
person, and then very briefly, and only in the manner of 
narrative without complaint. Durham, however, forgot 
himself the very next day, and, being at a large dinner 
alongside of Count Nesselrode, turned round, and with a 
loud, excited voice repeated all the circumstances of the 
affair. The Vice-Chancellor strove to stop his vehemence 
by calmly remarking that the topic was not one for a large 

13 



138 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

and mixed company, at least to be addressed to him. 
This only poured oil upon the fire of the enraged father, 
and he poured forth a torrent of invective, dropping in his 
heat the term " barbarian." The attention of the whole 
table had been drawn ; the Russians were extremely 
offended with the manner and epithets of the Ambassador; 
his words were exaggerated and circulated everywhere; 
the whole society of St. Petersburg were on the point 
of apprising his Lordship that he had gone too far, when 
General Tschitcherine stepped in, visited in every direc- 
tion with explanatory and soothing remarks, and finally 
prevailed in tranquillizing the storm. 

In the course of the evening, Mr. Kaiserveldt made 
himself very entertaining by a number of anecdotes of 
his own personal experience. His description of the 
scene which took place at the Imperial chapel when the 
young Grand Duke became of age, and took the oath of 
allegiance, gave a delightful impression of the domestic 
feelings of the autocrat and his family. He says that 
the church was thronged with the high prelates of the 
church and dignitaries of state; a small table was placed 
in the centre, on which were placed the Bible, some re- 
ligious emblems, and the written draft of the oath to be 
taken; after some prefatory ceremonies the Emperor led 
his son to the desk, pointed to the scroll, and bade him 
read attentively and aloud the oath before he signed it. 
The young man began audibly and distinctly; but when 
he came to that part which imported that he vowed 
obedience and love to the Emperor his father, his voice 
faltered, choked, and finally ceased ; he seemed to be 
overpowered by his feelings, and wept profusely. The 
Emperor, who stood close by, remained motionless and 
gave no symptom of agitation except two heavy tears 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 39 

that rolled down his cheeks ; a second time did the son 
endeavour to proceed, but again failed under the tenderest 
emotions about his father. The Czar allowed some 
minutes to elapse that he might master himself, and 
then with all the apparent unmoved dignity of the 
monarch pointed again to the scroll. As soon as he 
had completed the oath, the Grand Duke threw himself 
into his father's arms, where he sobbed aloud for an in- 
stant, when, recollecting his mother to be at the side of 
the church, he rushed towards her and was received with 
an affecting and prolonged embrace. The Emperor, un- 
able farther to control himself, went to them while thus 
clinging to each other, and encircling them both with 
his arms gave way to a paroxysm of emotion. In this 
scene, says Mr. Kaiserveldt, there was no acting; it was 
a sudden and obviously wholly unexpected overflow 
of parental and filial love ; it drew tears from all who 
beheld it. 

A little of the personal history of Count Levaschoff 
justifies the highest opinion I had contracted of him 
from his manners and conversation and appearance. He 
is not what is termed wealthy here ; having an income 
of three hundred thousand roubles, or sixty thousand 
dollars, only ; but he manages what he has with an 
economy and care which enable him to live in the utmost 
splendour and with unbounded hospitality. His estab- 
lishment is one of the most attractive in St. Petersburg, 
and anywhere else would be considered princely in its ex- 
tent; his drawing-rooms are flanked by beautiful gardens 
and by an immense green-house crowded even at this 
season with luxuriant flowers and tropical fruits, hung 
with birds, and lighted up for promenades, etc., accessible 
to his guests by wide stone stairways, and at the ex- 



I40 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

tremity of this range is a menage where he keeps enough 
to accommodate a regiment. He is now, and has long 
been, a great favourite among the highest nobility, and 
proved his title to their esteem not long ago by the 
manner in which he conducted a quarrel with his sover- 
eign himself. At that time he had been governor of a 
province for some years, and unfortunately had a dispute 
with the celebrated Marshal Sacken, using language on 
one occasion of considerable severity, but just. Sacken 
addressed the Emperor, saying that he was now too old 
to publish insults offered to him, but that he devolved 
his honour to the care and vindication of his master. 
Levaschoff was called to the capital ; he adhered to the 
propriety of his course, and was dismissed from his office. 
He retired to the rendezvous of all discontented nobles, 
Moscow, and seemed resolved not to return to St. Peters- 
burg. The Emperor perceived public sentiment to be 
entirely with the Count, and frankly and more fully re- 
considered the whole subject. In a short time a post 
of greater dignity and importance than the one he had 
occupied was assigned to him. His friends wished him 
to decline it. " No," said Levaschoff; " I will act as the 
Emperor has a right to expect, as one sensible of the 
extent of the amende Jionorable thus offered, and I will 
finally do what is due to my own honour." He went to 
the department allotted to him, then in great disorder; 
he put its affairs in admirable condition, reported in full 
upon every branch of its business and interest, and when 
the Emperor expressed his gratification he immediately 
resigned. Since then he has lived wholly in this city, 
has by slow degrees become perfectly reconciled, and 
enjoys at present the favour of his sovereign and the 
respect of all who know him. 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. I41 

1838. December 15. — It is now ascertained that the 
diplomatic corps, including the secretaries, are all invited 
to the ceremony of to-morrow, although the heads of 
the missions only will find places in the chapel. 

1838. December 16. — At eleven o'clock this morning 
I went, accompanied by Mrs. Dallas and Mr. Chew, all 
en grande teniic, to the Imperial palace of the Hermitage. 
The accumulation of equipages on the river front prob- 
ably induced our being invited to alight and enter at the 
door in the Milione, as we were driving on. The British 
Ambassador and Ambassadress had just preceded us. We 
passed through several rooms until we came to the one 
temporarily converted into a chapel, and crossing that 
we were ushered through two serried lines of brilliantly- 
equipped officers along the Vatican gallery or corridor, 
and into the apartment appropriated to the reception of 
the diplomatic corps. We were early, none of our col- 
leagues but Clanricarde and his suite being there, and the 
customary guard of grenadiers not stationed until ten or 
fifteen minutes afterwards. Lady Clanricarde was hand- 
somely and tastefully dressed in a silk of deep blue, 
fronted with a costly show of point lace, and having an 
extensive train bordered with the same and richly worked 
with Roman pearls; her head glittered with a coronet 
of diamonds, whose lustre, however, seemed to fade 
when contrasted with those of the Russian Court. Our 
associates soon arrived. The Ambassadress of France 
wore a gorgeous but obviously old dress, white with a 
profusion of gold tinsel, and a train of crimson velvet 
embroidered in gold. Countess Schimmelpenninck was 
overwhelmed with finery of all sorts and of all colours; 
silver and gold tinsel, jewels of every description, a 
train fringed with silver, an upper gown of gauze fretted 



142 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

with silver stars, and a half turban. Contrasted with 
these, the white satin gown, with light-pink satin train 
flounced with tulle, and a head-dress of a few flowers 
(the costume of Mrs. Dallas) unadorned by a single 
jewel of any sort, struck me as exceedingly modest, 
peculiarly suited to an American lady, and, withal, really 
much the prettiest. The English and Austrian Am- 
bassadors wore their military uniforms of scarlet and 
white, only differing in the collocation of the colours, — the 
first having scarlet coat and white pantaloons, the latter 
having white coat and scarlet pantaloons. Baron Barante 
was in civil dress, richly covered with embroidery. Baron 
Blome, the Dane, resembled the Englishman, except that 
he glittered with more crosses and ribbons. Count Rossi, 
the Sardinian (whose wife is not yet out of her room), 
wore a remarkably becoming military dress of green and 
gold, turned up with white. Count d'Appony, the Aus- 
trian attache, exhibited his fanciful and favourite costume 
of the Hungarian nobleman and ranger. The ceremonies 
began by the Ambassadors and Ministers (without their 
ladies or secretaries) being conducted, in due order of 
rank, to the large and lofty square apartment arranged 
into a chapel, and stationed along one side of it, with 
their chief, Count Ficquelmont, nearest the door at which 
it was known the Imperial family would enter. A screen 
of the necessary size, with its external panels beautifully 
painted with saints and Scriptural subjects, its parts 
movable on hinges, and having two doors in front, was 
fixed on the eastern side of the room, and formed the 
retiring and preparing recess of the priests. Between 
its two doors was the altar, and on both sides of this 
screen, within a small low railing, were the Court choir. 
Directly in the centre, and at a short distance from the 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 43 

screen, was a platform about ten feet square, raised, say 
a foot or more, from the floor, and covered with crimson 
velvet bordered with gold lace. A small table was on 
this platform, and the rest of the apartment was divested 
of furniture in order to make room. The large glass 
chandelier in the middle was illuminated, and when we 
entered there were assembled only a few of the highest 
civil and military officers. About thirty of the clergy 
officiated, three of whom were of the highest rank, and 
one of these the very old, gray-haired, and enfeebled 
Metropolitan ; three others were of a secondary rank ; 
the bonnets or mitres of these six were worn during 
most of the ceremony, and were ornamented with minia- 
tures, pearls, and other jewels in great abundance. The 
robes of all who officiated were of a material which 
resembled rich, thick, cut velvet of a glowing crimson 
colour, with golden crosses worked in it in every direc- 
tion, and with broad stripes of gold embroidery sunk, 
as it were, in the velvet. The manner in which these 
robes are adjusted is rather clumsy; they seem to be 
thrown over the shoulders, as one would throw a sheet 
or table-cloth, when intending that it should conceal the 
whole figure, without regard to grace or fitness. We 
had not been long in this apartment when we heard the 
customary suppressed " hush" which, on such occasions, 
precedes the Imperial family, and we, of course, fell into 
our line. The " Fourriers Chambellans," etc., in double- 
file and in their richest liveries, passed in at the northern 
door and went out at the southern one. The Grand 
Master of Ceremonies and the Grand Marshal of the 
Court, with two or three other high dignities, bearing 
large golden square staves surmounted with crowns of 
brilliants or gold work, quitted the lengthened proces- 



144 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

sion, and stationed themselves at the extremity of the 
diplomatic line and in front of the vol voted platform. 
Then entered the Emperor, Empress, their second son, 
Constatine, their two other sons, the Grand Duke Michel, 
and his Grand Duchess Helen, the Grand Duchesses 
Marie, Olga, and Alexandra, and the betrothed (or 
"promis"), the Duke of Leuchtenberg. At the thresh- 
old the Imperial party were met by the whole of the 
clergy, the Metropolitan at their head, bearing a sump- 
tuous silver cross, with a golden full-length image of 
the crucified Saviour upon it, and another carrying the 
chalice of holy water, drops of which were scattered by 
a sort of short bouquet of green leaves. Each of the 
Imperial family kissed the cross, held up for that purpose 
by the Metropolitan, and his hand also ; and each, bowing 
forward as if to approach the chalice of holy water, re- 
ceived a few drops, from the bouquet, on the palm of 
the hand, which they carried to their lips. They then 
crossed the room and ranged themselves immediately 
opposite to us, the Emperor leaning his back against 
the edge of the open door, through which could be seen 
an endless vista of magnificently-dressed ladies, unable 
to get accommodations in the chapel. Directly behind 
the Imperial family, I was unexpectedly pleased to find 
that the ladies of the foreign Ministers followed. My 
friend Count Schimmelpenninck had not noticed this; 
and when the throng of maids of honour had passed by, 
and had (as many as could) arranged themselves through- 
out the room, he abruptly turned to me and said, " I 
believe I will go home." "What for, Count?" "This 
neglect of our ladies is not to be borne ; you perceive 
they have been left with the secretaries and attaches in 
that remote antechamber." Had such been the fact, and 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 145 

had I, as probably I should have, encouraged the Count 
by the slightest assenting movement, we must have had 
an agreeable little flare-up. As it was, I relieved my 
colleague by pointing out to him his own wife, safely en- 
sconced by my own, close to the Imperial family. The 
betrothment began by his Majesty's conducting his 
daughter Marie and the Duke to the platform, the latter 
being placed on the right of the former, and the Em- 
peror returning to his former position. A lighted wax 
taper was then placed by two of the priests in the hands 
of each of the affianced. Religious exercises followed 
in the Greek form, of which I could understand nothing. 
Two priests brought on large golden plates the wedding- 
rings, and deposited them on the small tables, that of 
the Grand Duchess, which I could distinctly scan, was a 
very large diamond of extreme brilliancy. The Metro- 
politan, with some ceremony, placed each ring on the 
finger of its owner ; and after other recitations the Em- 
press went forward, took the ring off the hand of Marie 
and placed it on that of the Duke, and the ring off the 
hand of the Duke and placed it on that of Marie. At 
this instant, as if the artillery had actually witnessed the 
movement, a roar of guns issued from the fortress on the 
opposite side of the Neva, exceeding in number one hun- 
dred. The venerable Metropolitan administered to each 
of the parties the promise or engagement, reading it from 
one of their sacred volumes, and they, in turn, manifested 
their assent by kissing the golden cross he held up. 
They then descended from the platform. The Grand 
Duchess threw herself into her father's arms, and re- 
mained some seconds, clinging to him under the influ- 
ence of strong emotions ; they were embraced by all the 
Imperial circle in succession, and here seemed to termi- 



I46 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

nate the special act of affiancing. The priests, however, 
proceeded with their performances, during a short part 
of which it was very inconveniently necessary for all who 
were present to kneel. The hymn for the safety of the 
Emperor, in which the choir joined with great effect, was 
delightfully executed. When the whole closed, the Im- 
perial family passed out at the door through which they 
entered, bowing to us as they passed, and were followed 
by the almost endless train of maids of honour, chamber- 
lains, etc. The ladies of the foreign Ministers went in 
the current and in the order they came, while the Min- 
isters themselves were detained in the chapel for some 
time, preparatory to their being led, in the direction op- 
posite to that taken by the Court, the whole way round 
through the interminable saloons of the palace, until they 
came to a large and richly-ornamented one overlooking 
the river, where they again marshalled themselves in line 
awaiting the coming of the affianced couple, to whom 
they in due solemnity tendered their felicitations. Here 
we had been joined by the secretaries and attaches; our 
ladies being left in the apartment in which they were 
originally placed, to receive, first, the visit of the Duke 
and his future Duchess. This ceremony gave me the 
first opportunity I have had to form any sort of opinion 
of the young man so suddenly exalted by the Emperor 
by incorporation into his domestic circle, and into the 
highest grades of his honours and service. His appear- 
ance is prepossessing, though certainly not handsome or 
striking; his manner is polished and unaffected ; he looks 
about twenty-one years of age, and is about five feet eight 
inches high, with black hair closely cut, arched black 
eyebrows, small black moustache, and a lively and ex- 
pressive black eye. His complexion is rather fair. His 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 47 

nose is like my own — a mean feature — and he has, when 
smiling, a habit of drawing up his upper lip too far, so 
that his teeth (not regular nor perfectly white) and his 
gums are unpleasantly developed. He left us with ex- 
ceeding grace and self-possession. We now retraced our 
steps back to our wives, and hurried to our respective 
homes. 

We were urged to attend the Great Theatre to-night, 
as the Court would be there in gala dress, in honour of 
the day, and to witness the new ballet by Taglioni, but 
declined on the single ground of its being our Sabbath. 
Some of the illuminations of the city, which my children 
and Mrs. Dallas rode out to see, were uncommonly 
splendid. 

1838. December 17. — Mrs. Dallas went with me, at half- 
past ten, to the French Ambassador's. There were few 
there. We met Clanricarde coming away as we went in, 
Count Ficquelmont, Prince Hohenlohe, Baron Seebach, 
Countess Kreptovitch, Princess Gallitzin, Countess Stro- 
gonoff, etc. I got into a long conversation with Barante, 
parts of which I desire to remember. I began by ask- 
ing whether there were any modern authors in France, 
whom he could recommend to me, on the elementary 
principles of their law, like Blackstone in England, or 
Kent in the United States ? He said there was none : 
none but those who wrote merely on practice ; that their 
code had, as yet, no enlarged commentators. I told him 
I had the code, accompanied by the discourses of those 
who prepared its various branches, and which I esteemed 
invaluable: but that I had presumed France had given 
birth to writers on jurisprudence in general, during the 
last thirty-five years. He advised me to add to my copy 
of the code a copy of the discussions before the Council 



148 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

of State, on its provisions, which were conducted in the 
presence of Napoleon, and which he says were published 
by Ducros. This work he spoke of as of the highest 
authenticity and interest. As to the personal agency of 
Bonaparte, he remembered a striking anecdote which 
recorded one of his best " mots" and which he thinks 
may be found in the discussions referred to. The ques- 
tion before the Council was as to the adoption of the 
jury. Napoleon was known to be against it; hence, 
when the topic came up, most of those present opposed 
the institution with great ability and address. After a 
protracted session, Bonaparte suddenly turned to the 
last speaker with the following question : " Can France 
dispense with publicity in legislation ?" " Certainly not," 
was unanimously answered. " Then she cannot dis- 
pense with her jury, and must have it." 

Barante conceives that as yet the trial by jury has 
rather failed than otherwise in France. He complains 
that juries are perpetually yielding to feelings of compas- 
sion, and do not execute the criminal laws to which their 
agency is confined. They either acquit, even in cases 
of obvious and acknowledged guilt, or they resort to the 
expedient allowed by the code, and declare the crime to 
have been committed under extenuating circumstances, 
where, in fact, none existed. The selection of the juries 
is confined to the electoral class, and they do not exceed 
two hundred thousand. Notwithstanding this, he did 
not believe that the French juries were as intelligent as 
the American. I said, Certainly neither as intelligent 
nor as honest, if the character he gave of their verdicts 
were correct; nor would they have ever become so as 
long as their functions were restricted to penal proceed- 
ings. I regarded the institution, especially in connection 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 49 

with civil and municipal justice, as the best practical 
mode of educating citizens in the knowledge of what 
was right and proper, both as to themselves and others. 
" This," he said, " might be, but the process of instruction 
would be slow in France." " Particularly," I replied, " if 
you keep your right of suffrage so limited. But might 
not the evil you complain of arise from the character of 
your laws ? My experience satisfies me that there are 
two things which practically affect the verdict of juries 
on criminal trial : if your punishments are too severe, 
they shock natural feelings, and will be defeated; or, if 
they be ever so mild, if their infliction be reckless and 
demoralizing, the same consequence will ensue, for juries 
are averse to subjecting perhaps a first offender, or a 
criminal not hardened, to a process of imprisonment and 
shame by which his vices must be confirmed rather than 
eradicated." He said their penal code was not sangui- 
nary; and as to penitentiary discipline, the reports of 
those who had visited the United States for the purpose 
of examining our system and its operation had not been 
satisfactory. 

Was there any probability that the right of suffrage 
would be extended in France? Barante hoped not; he 
thought it already too extensive. A poor man, in France, 
would not be actually bribed by money, but he would 
always be in favour of the person who would defray the 
expense of going to the election and would entertain 
him while there. Such a voter was not an honest one; 
and yet his observation led him to be convinced that 
such would be the result wherever the franchise was ex- 
tended to the poor. I asked him if the voter, in order 
to vote, had to leave his family and business, and for 
how long a time. "Generally," he replied, "he must 

14 



150 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

give himself up to that duty exclusively, and mostly at 
a considerable distance from his home, for three days." 
" No wonder, then, that a poor man requires to be com- 
pensated or indemnified; you ask him to exercise his 
right by taking the bread out of his children's mouths, 
and paying extravagantly for three days of idleness ; 
the defect is not in his inability to withstand the law of 
necessity, but in your electoral arrangements ; give him 
the opportunity to vote near to his home, and without 
the loss of more than an hour or two, and he will feel 
no inducement to sell his independence." 

Countess Kreptovitch (the elder), remarking that she 
remembered the time when, thirty or thirty-five years 
ago, there were but two " modistes" in all St. Petersburg ; 
Barante said that on board of a single steamer from 
Havre during the last summer there had returned from 
their annual visit to Paris no less than thirty of these 
fashionable milliners. Count Ficquelmont observed that 
thirty years ago there was but one apothecary's shop in 
the city; and Barante added, but one public library or 
book-store. 

1838. December 18. — St. Nicholas's Day, and of course 
the Emperor's " Name's Day." Agreeably to the invita- 
tion of the Grand Master of Ceremonies, I went, accom- 
panied by the Secretary of Legation, to the presentation 
or reception at the palace of the Hermitage at twelve 
o'clock. It was in all essential respects like that which 
I have described under date of the 13th of January, 1838. 
The throng of maids of honour and of military and civil 
officers was uncommonly numerous and brilliant. 

In the evening, at half-past seven, Mrs. Dallas and my 
daughters accompanied me to the ball at the same palace. 
Admiral Heyden, the Russian representative at the battle 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 151 

of Navarino, was there: a plain, stolid-looking Dutch- 
man, now far advanced in years and stationed in a sort of 
retreat at Reval. The Imperial family were all present 
and remarkably animated. I overwhelmed Count Litta 
in a rapid game of chess, and was challenged for a future 
opportunity by Countess Modene and the French Am- 
bassador. At eleven o'clock we supped in the theatre, 
arranged to form the finest spectacle of the sort I ever 
beheld; the whole semi-circle in the rear, at the bottom 
of the stage, being coloured glass from ceiling to floor, 
and brilliantly lighted from behind. Exquisite music 
came from behind the variously-stained glass partitions. 
The table of the Empress stood in the centre of the 
parterre, glittering with ornaments of gold; that of the 
Foreign Ministers stood just beyond, groaning under the 
weight of the most enormous, massive, and beautiful 
silver imaginable, the centre-piece being a vase of vast 
capacity, in which I could easily have deposited two of 
my children, reposing on the backs of four dogs as large 
as life, and supported by two human figures at the ends, 
all of it richly and delicately worked. This load of 
silver would have found its way to the floor through any 
ordinary dining-table, and I observed that props had been 
placed underneath. In harmony and proportion with this 
were dozens of other decorations. Tables were every- 
where spread to accommodate fifty, twenty, or a dozen ; 
and the Emperor stationed himself tranquilly at one of 
the smallest and most retired, between Madame Pasch- 
koff and Madame Krudener, and with Count Orloff, the 
Grand Duke Michel, the Duke of Leuchtenberg, General 
Kissilief, etc. The Ambassadors and Ambassadresses sat 
at the table of the Empress. Our entertainment of viands 
and wines was excellent. Dancing was resumed for a 



152 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

short time after supper, and we got home by half-past 
one o'clock, the company breaking up as soon as their 
Majesties left. 

1838. December 19. — Went in the evening to witness 
the representation of the new grand ballet " Hitana," 
prepared expressly for Taglioni. The piece is splendidly 
got up, and consists of a succession of magnificent tab- 
leaux, without much interest of plot. " Hitana" in the first 
scene is a child of seven or eight years of age, who dances 
exquisitely, and is stolen away by the leader of a band 
of Bohemian or gypsy strollers. Eight or ten years are 
supposed to elapse between that and the second act, in 
which Taglioni appears as Hitana and as the favourite 
danseuse at a great fete or fair. She is found in the 
third at the gypsy encampment close to a water-fall and 
amid the most picturesque scenery ; here her lover joins 
the band, and the process of his initiation gives occasion 
for a number of striking tableaux. In the fourth act, 
she has fled for refuge to her original but unknown home, 
and she gradually recollects the place and the persons 
about her. In the fifth act, there is exhibited a rich, 
bustling, and fantastic masquerade, with every variety 
of graceful and burlesque dancing. The whole affair is 
ill suited to the peculiar charm of Taglioni, and seems 
to lessen her dignity and delicacy. In the scene of the 
fair she introduced the Cachoucha, and executed it with 
great effect. 

1838. December 25. — A soiree at home for the special 
benefit of the children on Christmas night. There were 
besides a number of ladies and gentlemen, among them 
the Minister of the Interior, Mr. Bloudoff, who in the 
course of conversation mentioned that he had to-day 
heard described to the Emperor by Professor Yacobi, of 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 53 

the University of Delft, a most extraordinary experiment. 
In the progress of his trials with electro-galvanism the 
Professor procured two plates of brass, linked them 
somewhat apart, by a conducting wire. One of the 
plates was deeply engraved, and had in the centre a 
human figure cut. Having applied the electro-galvanism 
for some time, it was discovered, to the amazement of the 
Professor himself, that the plate which had been left 
plain had received upon its surface the precise figure and 
words of the engraved one, except that they were now 
in bass-relief instead of excavated. The result was in- 
comprehensible and inexplicable, but has since been 
repeatedly attained by the same Professor. The Em- 
peror, utterly unable to conceive the process, resorted to 
pleasantry to express his surprise, and exclaimed, " Why, 
at this rate, Mr. Professor, we shall make children by 
electro-galvanism." 

1838. December 27. — A diplomatic soiree at Princess 
Hohenlohe's. The British and French Ambassadors, 
Lieberman.Schimmelpenninck, Villafranca, etc. A lesson 
given to the Marchioness Clanricarde in the measure and 
mazes of the mazourka, for which movement and figure 
she is wholly unfit. 

1838. December 28. — Prince Hohenlohe, who says that 
he was in several of the hardest fights of 18 12, and was 
repeatedly wounded, told me that his age was fifty- one. 
I had thought him younger than myself. In referring to 
the cold and impracticable forms of social intercourse, he 
assured me that such a state of things as existed in this 
capital was to be found nowhere else in Europe. " I 
have been at this Court," said he, " for thirteen years ; I 
have married a Russian lady ; I have been constantly in 
society, and I have probably become acquainted with five 

14* 



154 IFFLIN L 

hundred or six hundred persons; but I do not know one 
Russian intimately, one whom I can rely upon as a 
friend." I told him I thought such a condition of things 
was peculiarly the fate of Americans, as they had no 
titles, nobility, or European distinction or wealth. He 
said, " Not so, not so; it is the case with every stranger 
who enters Russia, let his titles, rank, and riches be 
what they may. Come to Wiirtemberg, come into any 
part of Central Europe, and I will engage that you 
make intimate friendships by scores." 

1838. D 30. — Went at half-past ten to Countess 

V sselrode's; an unusually large and brilliant company 
assembled, probably under the expectation of hearing 
the newly-arrived and celebrated pianist. Madame Pleyel. 
xec uted with great power two long and fine pieces 
on an admirable instrument of Erard's. The Vice- 
Chancellor, always somewhat fussy at home, wriggled 
and bravoed in ecstasies. Prince Volkonsky, a young 
man, sang two French songs with a rich, round, and 
cultivated voice, and Mademoiselle Bartinieff indulged 
us with a performance which very few professed operatic 
musicians could surpass. Madame Pleyel touched the 
accompaniment. She is about twenty-nine, somewhat 
tall, with dark eyes and eyebrows, an intellectual expres- 
sion, and a good figure. The evening furnished the best 
music I have heard since I crossed the Atlantic. 

1S50. . ; — Started at ten a.m. to attend the 

funeral obsequies of General Xarischkin, the father of 
Countess Woronzow, who died at his government in the 
interior, of a complaint of the liver, in his fiftieth year, late 
in October last. Mr. Chew accompanied me, both in full 
uniform, as etiquette exacts. The ceremony took place 
at the Church of St. Alexander Nefsky, in the presence 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. I 55 

of a large concourse of distinguished public officers, 
military and civil. The routine resembled in most 
respects the burial of Rodofinikine. The coffin was 
immensely large, containing the embalmed body and 
probably one or two more enclosures. It was not 
opened, and was lowered into a vault opened in the 
floor of the church. Several distinguished ladies were 
recognized in the rear of the crowd, — Countess Krepto- 
vitch, Princess Razoumoffsky, Madame Scheveits, Mad- 
ame Seniavin, etc. They were all in deep black. It is 
unusual for ladies to be present. Although to me the 
ceremony appeared a tedious mummery, I cannot help 
suspecting that it is in many of its parts solemn and 
touching to those who perfectly understand it. The 
son of the deceased, Dmitri-Narischkin, and Count 
Woronzow appeared powerfully impressed, and others 
were affected. I cannot, however, get over the ludicrous 
form of furnishing the deceased with a passport and a 
large basin of rice-pudding; these are really too absurd 
for any age, let alone the nineteenth century. We were 
detained here until one o'clock. 

1839. January 10. — Agreeably to former invitation, I 
went at twelve, accompanied by Mr. Chew, both en grande 
tenue, to the Imperial Academy of Science, whose session 
was held to-day, the anniversary of its foundation. 
Ouvaroff, Minister of Public Construction, is President, 
and Prince Dondonkoff Korsakoff is Vice-President. I 
failed to catch precisely the name of the Secretary. 
The Metropolitan of Moscow, in full and very becoming 
pontifical robes, was present, and I had myself presented 
to him, being really unable to resist the benignity of 
his countenance and manner. We mutually regretted, 
through the medium of Korsakoff, our inability to speak 



156 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

any language understood by both. His mantle was of 
fine green cloth, and his mitre of white cassimere, with 
drapery falling behind and over his shoulders. In the 
centre of the front of his mitre was a brilliant diamond 
cross, and suspended from broad ribbons around his neck 
hung several rich crosses of great beauty. His beard 
was touched with gray and his moustache was long. I 
conjectured him to be about fifty, but was told he was 
more than seventy. The French Ambassador, the only 
Chef of the corps besides myself there, wore the uni- 
form of the French National Institute, — a dark-green 
coat, embroidered with a lighter shade of green worsted 
in wreaths of laurel; it was otherwise strikingly plain, 
for I presume the cross on the left breast not to be part 
of the uniform. We were treated with two discourses. 
The first, by the Secretary, of great length, consuming 
no less than two hours in the reading, was an exposition 
of the doings of the institution during the last year, of 
the lives and characters of certain recently deceased 
members, and some interesting late discoveries and 
writings of the fraternity. Among others, the Secretary 
adverted to the singular result of an experiment with 
the galvanic battery by Yacobi, which I have heretofore 
noted ; and he mentioned that the Academy had estab- 
lished with Dr. Herring, of New York, the means of ex- 
changing the objects of natural science between the two 
countries. The second discourse was, unfortunately for 
me, in German; it was read by Mr. Behr, who enjoys a 
high reputation as a savant, and its subject was the clas- 
sification of animals, showing the adaptation of their 
physical structure to the latitudes allotted for their resi- 
dence. The Hall of the Academy was a very fine room, 
with lofty and painted ceilings, walls adorned with full- 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 57 

length portraits of the Emperor Paul, his Empress 
Marie, the Empress Catherine II., the Empress Eliza- 
beth, and the Emperor Alexander, and the present 
Emperor, and the entablature, composed of a series of 
remarkably well-executed bass-reliefs, representing the 
employments of laborious industry. The upper end of 
the hall formed a large recess, supported by columns of 
beautiful marble, in the centre and front of which stood, 
on a dark greenish marble pedestal, a colossal bust of 
Peter the Great. The President, Vice-President, Secre- 
tary, and members, all in full dress of blue embroidered 
in gold, arranged themselves at a table which extended 
nearly the width of the room, covered with fine green 
cloth fringed with gold lace ; the side of the table towards 
the audience was unoccupied. The meeting was thinly 
attended : hardly two hundred persons were present. 
Sir James Wylie, Admiral Krusenstern, and Admiral 
Rickards were there. I reached home a little before 
four p.m. 

1839. January 13. — At half-past twelve (Sunday fairly 
over) went to the masquerade at the Great Theatre. All 
the Imperial family were present; the Empress and her 
daughter remaining as spectators seated in their box, 
while the Czar, the Grand Duke Michel, and Count 
Orloff seemed actively engaged among the crowd in the 
idle enjoyment of the scene. No hats are doffed on 
such occasions ; nor does it seem expected that any 
more deference should be shown to the Sovereign than 
merely not to obstruct his path. He frequently had 
ladies, completely masked and disguised, on his arm, 
whom he obviously did not know, but with whom he 
was gayly jesting. Several times a lady would excite 
his curiosity to know who she was; and he summoned 



158 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

the Grand Duke Michel and Count OrlofF to assist him 
in detecting her; but as the laws of the mask are never 
infringed, the trio, though uniting in comment and 
scrutiny and effort, did not appear to succeed. The 
costumes were not handsome or novel, and the masks 
were comparatively few. The amusement is a dull one, 
except to those who connect with it the irregularity and 
piquancy of intrigue ; and they are probably very few. 

1839. January 15. — We went at a quarter after nine 
in the evening to the British Embassy, at which the 
Corps Diplomatique generally assemble, and remained 
until two in the morning. There was dancing, at which 
I was favored with the hand of the French Ambassadress. 
The Marquis Clanricarde made himself unusually agree- 
able. He described Queen Victoria to me. She was a 
little lady, with large gray eyes that turned up impres- 
sively, and a peculiarity of bearing and manner which 
would make her remarked in any company. When she 
is gay, her joyousness is that of an open-faced girl, but 
the instant she is serious, she draws down the corners of 
her mouth, drops her eyes, and looks intent. She sings 
well and reads admirably, filling the largest hall with a 
voice and enunciation as distinct as a bell, without the 
least exertion. 

1839. Jamiwy 20. — Interesting public events are hap- 
pening on several great theatres. In France, the minis- 
try of Count Mole is being driven out by a coalition be- 
tween the respective parties of Guizot, Thiers, and Odillon 
Barrot, aided by the ultra-Legitimists, and this at a mo- 
ment when the country is wonderfully prosperous and 
the successful bombardment of the castle of San Juan 
de Ulua is being proclaimed. It is obvious that matters 
cannot stand still in France; and the Hollando-Belgic 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 59 

question may be, after all, the safest vent for an explosion 
which may otherwise overwhelm the dynasty of Louis 
Philippe and create a general war of the two principles. 
France is actually a mercurial democracy, whose start may 
be hourly expected. In England, the working classes are 
suffering from want of food, and are assuming the calm 
attitude of an inflexible purpose. The arrest of Stephens 
on a charge of sedition is calculated to concentrate and 
harmonize their efforts. The corn-laws cannot be yielded 
to the popular clamour without a resort to other than land 
taxes for the payment of the interest on the public debt. 
The recent Poor Law appears excessively odious. In the 
midst of the excitements flowing from these causes, it is 
apparent that a vigorous republican spirit is rising, that 
the monarchy, with its girl as chief, is falling into con- 
tempt, and that a change of ministry is at hand. The 
example of the French opposition will probably be fol- 
lowed by the Whigs and Tories, of whom a coalition 
will be patched up to resist both the precursorship of 
O'Connell and the radical Chartists. Such a coalition, 
however, will be deemed so unprincipled and detestable 
that it must occasion scenes of violence everywhere. 
We must have the Manchester murders repeated before 
long. The cry of " No popery !" too, is getting up, and with 
really more reason than existed in Lord George Gordon's 
time. The civil war in Spain is becoming too barbarous 
to be interesting, nor does there seem on either side the 
capacity to bring it to an end : endless and useless 
butcheries of defenceless prisoners ; unceasing changes 
of the ministry; a wretched lack of money; a total 
destitution of talent, political or military. 

1839. January 23. — Visited and made the personal 
acquaintance of the once-celebrated songstress, Made- 



l6o DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

moiselle Sontag, now Countess Rossi. She is pretty, — 
a round face, fine large white teeth, clear and delicate 
complexion, blue eyes, and brown hair. 

A ball at the British clergyman's, Mr. Law's, with 
card-playing and supper, immediately under the church ! 
Did not get through it all until three in the morning. 
Dreadful in every aspect ! 

1839. January 26. — I dined to-day with Sir James 
Wiley, and was agreeably surprised by meeting the fol- 
lowing mixed company: Count Nesselrode, Marquis 
Clanricarde, Prince Mensikoff, Count Volkonsky, Count 
Kreptovitch, Count Matuzevitch, Mr. Poletica, Prince 

, Mr. , Mr. Hodgson, Mr. Law, Mr. Plinkey, 

Mr. Cayley, Mr. Nichols, Mr. Gray, Mr. Maberly, etc. 
I had not before seen, except once at the public table of 
the English Club, this union of high nobility with high 
merchants and shopkeepers. Sir James told me that 
the Emperor Alexander had delineated with his own 
hands the coat-of-arms he assigned for him at the time 
he made him a knight. His knighthood was authorized 
and confirmed by his English sovereign. 

1839. January 28. — Dined with Mr. Hodgson at half- 
past five. Sir James Wylie, Sir Edward Baynes, Mr. Bu- 
chanan, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Atkinson, Mr. Krehmer, Mr. 
Grant, etc. Sir James Wylie was at a loss to know why, as 
he had been very intimate with John D. Lewis at that time, 
he had not formed my acquaintance when I was here many 
years ago. I suggested that he was then probably with 
the Russian armies in Germany, and asked him where 
he was when Moreau was killed at Dresden. " Close by 
him," was the reply, "and I amputated both his legs at 
the thighs." He then gave me, with his usual garrulity, 
a long and not uninteresting account of the particulars 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. l6l 

of that well-known event. Moreau's first exclamation 
to him was, "Qu'il est facheux, mon cher Docteur, que 
ce miserable (Napoleon) m'a attrape ici." They were 
obliged to move him about a good deal in order to get 
him into a place of safety, but Sir James thinks that the 
operation had been so fortunate that he would have sur- 
vived had not Metternich and the Duke of Cumberland 
(now King of Hanover) thrown him into a fever by pro- 
longed political conversations. He died on the thirteenth 
day after being wounded, at a village called, I think, 
Drux. His body was embalmed and sent to this city. 

1839. February 1. — Lord Clanricarde has experienced 
latterly a series of little contretemps which are the sub- 
jects of conversation, and are calculated to worry him. 
Several gentlemen invited him to join them on a hunt. 
They went to Oranienbaum, an estate of the Grand Duke 
Michel. While sporting, the party were met by the 
keeper, who required them to produce their authoriza- 
tions. The only ticket in the possession of one of them 
was insufficient, and they were ordered off and their 
game taken from them. His lordship returned to St. 
Petersburg indignant and mortified. When the matter 
was communicated to the Grand Duchess Helen, she 
immediately directed a party to be got up for the special 
amusement of the Ambassador, and the whole estate to 
be at his disposal for the occasion. Having had his 
sport, he applied by note to the Grand Master of Cere- 
monies to be permitted to thank her Imperial Highness 
in person. This note remained unanswered for four 
days. He was again indignant and mortified, and went 
to his friend General Tschitcherine. The General spoke 
to the Grand Duchess, who exclaimed at her own for- 
getfulness, but said, " Never mind ; we will put the thing 

15 



l62 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

right by giving the Embassy a special soiree to-morrow 
night." This was done. Then the Marquis invited the 
Grand Duke to come to his house this evening, and, in 
further reconciliation, the Grand Duke did so. But, un- 
fortunately, the Marquis does not know the established 
rule of etiquette here, that he who invites an Imperial 
personage to his house must devote himself exclusively 
to that personage ; and it happened, still more unfortu- 
nately, that on the arrival of the Grand Duke, the Am- 
bassador was dancing, so that his Imperial Highness did 
not receive the customary attention, and went away again 
in less than half an hour. The string of mischances did 
not end here. There was a large supper, at which all 
the guests were seated. Of course, the signal for rising 
could be given only by the Ambassador and Ambassa- 
dress ; yet, after a while, as if by a preconcerted plan, 
nearly all the company rose, and hurried away, leaving 
the Marquis and his lady, with about ten others, still 
eating. He is again mortified and indignant. 

1839. February 4. — Went to a soiree dansante et musi- 
cale at Princess Hohenlohe's. It was principally com- 
posed of members of the Diplomatic Corps. We re- 
mained till two in the morning. The French Ambassador 
answered my inquiries about Berryer, .whose "paroles 
foudroyantes" in the Chamber of Deputies produced so 
much effect in the recent discussion, by saying that he 
was as a mere orator unrivalled, — he is a lawyer, fine 
figure, fine action, powerful voice, — but that as a states- 
man his opinions or speeches went very little way. 
Miss Youchkoff' s execution on the piano was good. 
We had several admirable songs, particularly a duet. 
Countess Rossi scrupulously avoided coming until all 
the music was over, as it is understood she will not sing 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 63 

publicly. The mazourka degenerated into a romp under 
the auspices of Lord Clanricarde, who was quite over- 
come with laughter at the accidents encountered by his 
attache, young Wombwell. 

1839. February 13. — This being Carnival, and the 
common sports in full blast on the square fronting the 
Admiralty, Philip and I started at noon on an exploration 
expedition. We were detained, however, nearly two 
hours in the large theatre erected, witnessing rope- 
dancing and harlequin transformations. Things were 
rather too coarse for our taste, and we pursued the 
hunt no farther. 

1839. February 15. — The Carnival sports on the Ad- 
miralty Square are becoming crowded and lively. The 
ice hills appear the principal objects of attraction, and 
are in constant activity. The procession of equipages, 
to-day, was more than usually long and brilliant. I 
counted twenty handsome carriages in succession, drawn 
by six horses, with coachman, postilion, and servant in 
cocked hat and rich scarlet liveries. These are the 
pupils of the Imperial institution devoted to the educa- 
tion of the daughters of the nobility. The number of 
drunken men in the streets hourly increases. 

Louis Philippe is unwilling to part with Count Mole. 
Marshal Soult is too ill or too much puzzled to form a 
fresh ministry, and the French Chambers are first pro- 
rogued and then dissolved ! Spirits appear to me so 
much excited in Paris, and the general tendency of things 
so strong for change, that one may anticipate serious 
events. The King must govern now decidedly, or will 
soon cease to reign. 

1839. February 23. — The Emperor is reported unwell. 
On Monday last he reviewed some troops at Peterhoff, 



164 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

and, while riding over a plain, his horse sunk so deeply 
in the snow that he was obliged to dismount and walk. 
The snow got into his boots and wet his feet thoroughly. 
He neglected the circumstance. On Tuesday he com- 
plained, and on Wednesday, a fever coming on, he sent 
for his physician. He came to St. Petersburg yesterday, 
and is said to be better. Among the court flies one can 
perceive great solicitude, accompanied by an effort to 
make light of the attack. It is impossible not to specu- 
late upon the vast consequences which would imme- 
diately result to Russia and to Europe by the sudden 
death of this sovereign. His heir is at Naples. The 
Empress has no political talent or taste. The Grand 
Duke Michel is beloved by the army. The Duke of 
Leuchtenberg is not yet married. 

1839. February 27. — At half-past ten a.m. I drove to 
the Church of St. Alexander Neffsky, to attend, agree- 
ably to invitation, the funeral of Count Speransky, Presi- 
dent of the Legislative Department of the Imperial Coun- 
cil, who died on Saturday last. The Ambassadors of 
Austria and France were the only other members of the 
diplomatic body present. The Emperor and Grand Duke 
Michel were there, the former seeming in some degree to 
divide the attention of the officiating priests. The loss of 
Speransky is represented as a severe one to the country. 
He was remarkable for ability. He had experienced 
great vicissitudes of fortune ; was at one time banished 
to Siberia, upon the false charge of having secretly fur- 
nished Napoleon with the drafts of certain Russian forti- 
fications. He had many inveterate enemies among the 
nobles, in consequence of his plans for ameliorating the 
condition of the boors. He subsequently became Gov- 
ernor-General of Siberia. He died after a short illness. 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 65 

His death produces a succession of official changes. 
Daschkoff, the Minister of Justice, takes his place in the 
Imperial Council; my friend Bloudoff replaces Dasch- 
koff, and Gournieff, Bloudoff. This is rotation without 
promotion. 

Prince Hohenlohe, who, with the Princess, her sister, 
Madame Youchkoff,and Miss Youchkoff, spent the avant- 
soirce with us, says that there is great activity just now in 
the department of Foreign Affairs here, and that couriers 
are despatching in all directions. As the Belgian ques- 
tion would seem quietly inurned, this bustle cannot well 
be explained, except by referring it to an alleged com- 
munication of Lord Clanricarde to Count Nesselrode, to 
the effect that England would no longer put up with 
the interference of Russia in her relations with Persia, 
and that if they were continued war would be the 
consequence. 

Prince Hohenlohe told me the following anecdote : 
Some ten or twelve years ago, Jerome Bonaparte, now 
called Count de Montfort, at a soiree of his own, played 
cards with great vehemence. He lost all the money he 
had about him, then pledged his rings, and finally laid 
his watch upon the table. It was a small gold one, the 
back of which opened by a spring. A lady, overlooking 
the game, admired the watch, and took it up to examine. 
On her attempting to open the back, Jerome immediately 
clasped it, and said that must not be done. His wife, 
who stood by, insisted upon knowing what was in it; 
grew angry, reproached him with having some keepsake 
of a favorite there, and- finally, bursting into tears, quit the 
room. Jerome then opened the watch, showed to all 
present that it contained a beautiful miniature of his first 
wife (Betsey Paterson), with the remark, " You see, I 

15* 



l66 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

hope, that I could not with propriety let her look at 
it." The Prince says that it was notorious that he re- 
mained deeply attached to his first wife long after their 
separation. 

1S39. March 6. — Sigismund Thalberg gave his first 
concert in St. Petersburg this evening at the " Assemblee 
de la Noblesse." I had obtained four tickets out of the 
nine hundred sold, which were at fifteen roubles, or three 
dollars per ticket. We went half an hour earlier than 
the appointed time, in order to get convenient seats, but 
we found the saloon already crowded. Many had gone 
as early as five in the afternoon, to wait patiently till 
eight. Everybody of ton and distinction was there, 
and the Imperial box was graced by the three Grand 
Duchesses, Helen, Marie, and Olga, attended by Baroness 
Fredericks and Kitty Tschitcherine. 

A great poet, a great orator, a great painter, and a 
great musician (composer as well as performer) are 
scarcely to be separated on the scale of intellectual 
power and interest. Thalberg is the first musical genius 
I have ever seen. I had anticipated much, but he more 
than satisfied me. He executed on the piano three of 
his own pieces, and made the instrument speak in tones 
I never imagined it capable of. The vast and discerning 
audience testified in tumults of applause to his triumph. 
He seems a young man of twenty-five, of rather slen- 
der figure, florid complexion, light-chestnut hair, and a 
distinct Grecian profile. His personal deportment was 
modest, deferential, but perfectly self-composed and calm. 
Dressed in full black, with white cravat, and maintaining 
a mild but imperturbable serenity, he took his seat at the 
piano with the preoccupied air of a young clergyman full 
of his first interesting sermon. His first touch carried 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 67 

conviction of his excellence. It involved a delicacy, a cer- 
tainty, an entirety, which made the note fall in its utmost 
perfection upon the ear. As he proceeded, this exquisite 
distinctness accompanied him through all the mazes of 
his elaborated composition. The instrument seemed 
like a wonderful combination of the richest, clearest, 
and sweetest human voices. 

In coming away, the sudden rush through the ante- 
chambers was rather alarming. We got, however, in 
the advance group with Count Nesselrode (whose lit- 
tle rake-hat made him look as if he had already been 
squeezed to death, and who kept screaming for his 
weeping and terrified daughter Marie), Princess Solti- 
koff, Countess Kreptovitch, etc., and were able to reach 
our carriage with no mishap, except the loss of a 
breastpin. 

1839. March 1 2. — At half-past ten we went to Princess 
Hohenlohe's, and remained till half-past two. I played 
chess with the representative of Don Carlos, the 
Duke of Medina-Sidonia and Marquis of Villafranca; 
giving him a castle and a knight, and then beating him. 
The company was numerous and gay. Thalberg made 
his appearance as a guest, and seemed very much 
courted by some of the younger married ladies. He 
declines playing at such parties, unless engaged for the 
purpose, and then his fixed price is one thousand roubles, 
or two hundred dollars, for the evening, during which 
he executes two or three pieces. Hohenlohe is not 
up to such extravagance; but the pianist finds himself 
in pretty constant demand. What orator, statesman, 
lawyer, poet, or even novelist has ever been paid at 
this rate ? 

Galignani mentions a musician, now in London, whose 



l68 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

name I forget, who demands for private concerts a com- 
pensation of two hundred and fifty pounds, or one thou- 
sand one hundred and eleven dollars a night, and, what's 
more, he gets it ! 

1839. March 14. — At half-past four went with Mrs. 
Dallas to the splendid dinner of Prince Youssoupoff. 
There were about fifty guests. The extent of this 
palace and the magnificence of its furniture and arrange- 
ments struck us as forcibly as ever. The Prince has his 
band of music (the only private one of which I am 
aware), and it played at a short distance from the com- 
pany, changing its position when the dinner was an- 
nounced, during the whole of the entertainment. He 
has also a theatre attached to the establishment ; and 
his household servants number five hundred. There 
were present the French Ambassador and Madame, 
Count and Countess Benkendorf, Prince Mentchikoff, 
Baron and Baroness Fredericks, Prince and Princess 
Hohenlohe, Count and Countess Rossi, Countess Mo- 
dene, Prince and Princess Sherbatoff, Madame Palian- 
sky, Baron Seebach, Mr. Soltikoff, Mr. Bloudoff, Mr. 
Polycarpoff, several ladies whose names I did not know, 
and a number of military officers. Count Bobrinsky, 
my landlord, was there ; and having ascertained, by an 
experience of eighteen months, that I was not disposed 
to make the slightest advance towards his acquaint- 
ance, he sought a personal introduction. On the score 
of character and intelligence, he stands very high. I 
sat at table between Prince Mentchikoff and Madame 
Paliansky, both of whom were agreeable; the Minister 
of the Marine very shy about the actual condition and 
number of the Russian navy, and the lady amazed to 
hear of a country in which husbands were faithful to 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 69 

their wives. She thought she would send her daughters 
to marry in America. Mrs. Dallas, placed between 
Baron Fredericks and Mr. BloudofT, was as fortunate as 
myself in having conversable neighbours. The dinner 
was excellent, especially in the last glass of wine cir- 
culated, which was " Cape" or Constantia, of a hundred 
years of age. 

1839. March 15. — At eight p.m. we repaired to the 
Theatre Michel to witness " Un grand concert, vocal et 
instrumental, avec des Tableaux-Vivans." The music 
was not much. The tableaux were the finest we had 
seen on a large scale, and, being managed very effec- 
tively, pleased us exceedingly. They were sixteen in 
number: 1. Lady Percy; 2. Constance and Prince 
Arthur; 3. Don Juan and Haidee; 4. Aboul Cassem 
and Dardone; 5. Que voulez-vous ? 6. Passez votre 
chemin ; 7. Le repos du soldat; 8. La danse de la 
Gitana; 9. Le bon vin de Gordon; 10. Le brigand de 
nuit; 11. Le desastre de famille ; 12. Les maux des 
dents ; 13. Le coup de vent ; 14. L'homme qui se nage ; 
15. The Devil; 16. Une fille mal gardee. Of these the 
8th and the 16th were the largest and most striking. It 
was said that these tableaux are sometimes indelicate. 
On the present occasion, nothing could be more correct. 

Adjourning from the Theatre at eleven o'clock we 
went to Countess Modene's, and remained for nearly 
two hours. Nothing could be kinder or more after our 
own taste than the domestic reception given to us. The 
old lady took to her game of whist with Baron Schleinitz, 
while her three daughters, Madame Paschkoff, Princess 
Shakoffsky, and an unmarried one called Marie, con- 
versed and entertained. The green arbours and rich 
flowers arranged about the rooms were beautiful. I 



I JO DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

sat in one of the arbours illuminated by a Chinese 
lamp and beat Princess Shakoffsky two rapid games of 
chess. Our only refreshment was an excellent cup of tea. 

1839. March 16. — I went, agreeably to special invita- 
tion, to join the dinner-celebration of the anniversary 
of the English Club. Count Cancrin was chairman 
or presiding officer, and, being stationed at his side, I 
inquired as to the new process which I understood had 
been discovered for separating gold from silver in the 
ore. He told me that it was the discovery of a French- 
man at Paris, to whom they had been obliged to pay 
one hundred and twenty thousand francs for communi- 
cating it; and that its principal merit consists in the im- 
provement of the machinery used. It had, however, 
not yet been definitely tested here. He told me that 
the mines in Siberia might be considered as yielding 
five hundred pounds of gold per annum, or eighteen 
thousand English pounds, and that they were enlarging 
and improving. They employed thirty thousand persons, 
who received a monthly compensation, varying from, the 
lowest, fifteen roubles to forty or fifty. 

At nine in the evening we went to a musical and 
soiree at Madame PolycarpofTs. The great object of 
attraction and source of infinite gratification was the 
celebrated composer and pianist, Henselt, who played 
on the instrument for nearly two hours, in a style that 
quite equalled, if it did not surpass, Thalberg. He is 
said to be the natural son of the present King of Bavaria, 
and is about twenty-five years of age. He is an enthu- 
siast in his art, and while performing seems to become 
perfectly intoxicated with the sounds he produces. His 
fingering was peculiar and rather disagreeable to the 
eye, — his hand, a dead white, seeming to lie flat on the 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 171 

keys, and the fingers to roll over each other like worms 
or leeches. Occasionally he struck with a force which 
the instrument could scarcely resist long. He gives 
nine lessons a day, at twenty roubles the lesson, and 
his public concerts are always overflowing. It is now 
something more than a year since his arrival in St. 
Petersburg. 

1839. March 17. — In the evening, at half-past ten, 
Mrs. Dallas accompanied me to Count Nesselrode's. 
The Countess has been absent for three or four weeks, 
and we were in duty bound to welcome her return. The 
Ambassadors (except the British, who is still confined to 
a dark room with a gouty affection of the eye) and the 
Diplomatic Corps generally were there. I had an inter- 
esting conversation with General Kissilieff, who is highly 
esteemed for his administrative ability, and Barante. 
The former alleged that there were not more than two or 
three Russian merchants in St. Petersburg, that foreign 
commerce was wholly in the hands of resident strangers, 
and he described the course of it as what we would con- 
sider a mere commission business. Hence he concluded 
that, though now and then failures might occur to some 
extent, there could be no general bankruptcy, no per- 
vading crisis, such as seems to happen almost periodically 
in the United States, Great Britain, and France. Barante 
thought otherwise, and, without explaining the grounds of 
his opinion, predicted an early and violent derangement of 
trade here. Both these gentlemen seemed to ascribe the 
recent calamity of the United States to the inconceivable 
number and gambling tendency of our banks. Neither 
of them could understand why the American people 
were so averse to a national bank, which, as they said, 
centralized the financial power ; and it was vain for me 



172 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

to tell them that, however important and attractive this 
very centralization might be in France or Russia, in 
America it was inconsistent with some fundamental 
principles, dangerous as a lever, and repugnant to senti- 
ments which were general when the government was 
created, and which have since been confirmed by expe- 
rience. Having got the fixed European idea that we 
are wholly a commercial people, they argue that what- 
ever spurs and facilitates commerce must be a primary 
object with us. 

1839. March 19. — At half-past ten I went alone to 
Princess Hohenlohe's rout. The company was unusually 
crowded and brilliant. The Grand Duke Michel took 
the extraordinary trouble to come up and converse with 
me. As I have never shown the slightest disposition to 
court his Imperial Highness, in the manner so custom- 
ary among the best here, and as that sort of courtship is 
deemed necessary to the slightest favour or notice, I was 
as much surprised at his volunteer as he professed to be 
at my capital French. He was tired of his effort before 
I well got over my astonishment. I am no admirer 
of the Grand Duke. Played chess with the French 
Ambassador ; beat the first and lost the second game. 

1839. March 23. — I have repeatedly met the Emperor 
walking alone on the English Quay lately. He looks 
thinner, and has less colour than usual. He invariably 
stops to shake hands and to make some commonplace 
remark. To-day he made me walk a little with him, and 
spoke feelingly of the recent illness of the Empress, whom 
he called, in imitation of plain republican language, " my 
wife." He spoke English. His manner of walking is 
ungraceful, bending at his knees too much, and swinging 
his arms from the elbows too actively. 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 73 

The Princess Shakoffsky, who spent the avant-soiree 
with us, gave an animated account of the recent Persian 
Ambassador at this court. He was a young man, scarcely 
one-and-twenty. He dressed in the rich and multifarious 
costume of his own country, with a number of what 
we would call " morning gowns," which he would often 
remove, one by one, as he felt himself, while visiting, 
getting too warm. He could not bear to see ladies and 
gentlemen dancing together, considering it offensive to 
modesty, and at balls kept his eyes studiously upon the 
floor; and yet he esteemed all women as mere objects of 
sale ; and on one occasion, at the theatre, struck by the 
extraordinary beauty of the Countess Zavadowski, he sent 
round to inquire at what price she could be purchased. 
He was passionately devoted to chess, and obliged the 
young men of his suite to play with him, and always to 
be beaten, morning, noon, and night. Once, at a large 
party, Princess Shakoffsky challenged him to a game. 
He seemed to think it impossible for a lady to have any 
skill. She asked him whether she was bound not to win 
finally. He replied that he would not play unless she 
promised to exert herself to conquer; and they began. 
In a short time she checked his king and queen, and 
took the latter. He became excessively agitated, and 
summoned to his assistance his four secretaries, who 
became themselves apparently much disquieted. The 
company clustered round the board, and took sides, and 
the Princess received so much and such various advice 
as to each move, that she ceased to think for herself, 
and lost the game. Early next morning she was waited 
upon by the four secretaries, who believed she had pur- 
posely lost the game, and who came to thank her, as, had 
she won it, they would probably have undergone impris- 

16 



174 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

onment for a month ! He was in the practice of walking 
about with his eyes shut or bandaged, saying that he 
wanted to accustom himself to live and move without 
seeing, as he presumed he should one day be deprived 
of his vision. Since his return to Persia, for some real 
or supposed offence, he has had his eyes torn out. 

1839. March 23. — We spent the evening at Madame 
Paschkoff's, meeting her mother, La Marquise, and 
another old and chatty personage. These ladies com- 
plain of the practice recently adopted by governments 
of frequently changing their diplomatic representatives 
at their Court. In former times, they say, Ministers 
remained twenty, thirty, and even forty years, and they 
formed firm friendships. Now one is shy in making 
diplomatic acquaintances, fearing an early and abrupt 
close to them. Certainly ever since my coming the 
changes have been numerous. There were several other 
ladies, Madame Lanskoy, her daughter, and some young 
gentlemen. The little maigre supper, introduced at half- 
past eleven, was extremely nice, consisting of fish dressed 
in five or six different ways, — one slightly soused, an- 
other en papillotte, with minced mushrooms, a third " d la 
bcfstik" a fourth fried with smelts, etc. During the last 
week of the careme they are not allowed even fish, and 
live upon mushrooms, potatoes, and leavened bread. 
The room in which we sat was adorned with fine and 
blooming flowers, among which I noticed a rich white 
lilac, and the voice of a nightingale seemed to fill up all 
conversational pauses. 

1839. March 24. — The average annual quantity of the 
famous Russian leather, called youfta, exported during 
the years from 1834 to 1837 was 66,637 ponds, or 
2,398,932 pounds, in 159,591 pieces. The exportation 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1/5 

annually diminishes as the manufacture of leather im- 
proves in other countries. More than half the amount 
exported goes into the different states of Europe. 

1839. March 25. — The "Incidents of Travel in Rus- 
sia," by I. L. Stevens, of New York, has amused me 
greatly. It is light and superficial, but gay and natural. 
In general his descriptions of St. Petersburg are faithful. 
He exaggerates a little for effect. Thus, he represents 
the Admiralty as having " a facade of marble, with 
ranges of columns a quarter of a mile in length." Now, 
there is no marble ; about four dozen brick-red plaster 
columns, and the length is about one-half the supposed 
extent. " The Winter Palace is a gigantic and princely 
structure, built of marble." Certainly gigantic and 
princely, but not built of marble. " The marble palace 
built by Catherine II. for her favourite, Prince Orloff, with 
a basement of granite and superstructure of bluish mar- 
ble, ornamented with marble columns and pillars," has 
no marble about it, but reddish pilasters of rather a mean 
appearance, and the blue is scant and mean. The " great 
Church of St. Isaac, of marble, jasper, and porphyry, 
upon a. foundation of granite" will certainly be one of 
the wonders of art when finished; and, though its base- 
ment be granite, its foundation is unfortunately of piles, 
and serious fears are entertained that it will sink, as its 
predecessor did, owing to the enormous weight placed 
upon the unsteady earth. 

1839. March 26. — At seven, Mrs. Dallas, Julia, Eliz- 
abeth, and I repaired to the grand conceit given by the 
Society of Patriotic Ladies for the benefit of their schools. 
These ladies had sent me two tickets, and I procured two 
others through the politeness of Count Wielnorski. For 
the four I paid one hundred roubles. On reaching the 



176 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

magnificent hall, the Salle de la Noblesse, we found it 
crammed with about fifteen hundred visitors; but seats 
had been set apart for the Diplomatic Corps, which we 
managed to attain by passing across the elevated plat- 
form appropriated to the music, to the opposite side of 
the room, very nearly en face of the Imperial box. 
Nothing could exceed the splendour of the scene. All 
that is noble and fashionable and elegant and tasty were 
assembled, the military and ladies richly dressed. The 
whole of the Imperial family (except the Grand Duchess 
Helen, who is unwell) were present. The Empress, 
Marie, and Olga, clothed in white, their foreheads glit- 
tering with diamonds, with the two boy Grand Dukes, 
Baroness Fredericks, and Prince Volkonsky, were sta- 
tioned, like the gorgeous figures of a superb tableau, 
in the crimson-velvet lined and curtained recess, or 
rather small room, just in front of us, while the Emperor 
and Grand Duke Michel found their way at an open 
door close by, and stood tranquilly in the crowd. Here 
were certainly at a coup d'ceil to be seen the elite of St. 
Petersburg, if not of all Russia. All the dames and 
demoiselles d'honneur, and ladies of distinction, occu- 
pied the first ten or twelve benches nearest the music. 
All the general officers, with their dazzling epaulettes 
and swords, were clustered about, standing. All the 
Imperial Council, and the Senate, and the Etat Major 
were collected. Nobody seemed to be absent whose 
presence could add to the brilliant tout ensemble. The 
Ambassadors of Austria, France, and England, the British 
Ambassadress, the Prussian, Dutch, and Sardinian Min- 
isters, the Saxon, Swedish, and Bavarian charges, Made- 
moiselle Barante and her brother, the secretaries d'An- 
dre, Edwardes, Kaizenfelds, and attaches dAppony, 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. \JJ 

Vrints, Wombwell, young Roger Schimmelpenninck, 
Count Ncsselrode, Count Woronzovv, Count Levarchaff, 
Count Wassiltchickoff, General Kissilief, Count Mont- 
cillo, Mrs. Dallas, Julia, Elizabeth, and myself consti- 
tuted what might be esteemed the group of the diplomatic 
section. The concert, which takes place annually, is one 
of the contributions of the nobility to charitable pur- 
poses. Its performances are executed by the most dis- 
guished ladies, and the instruments are managed chiefly 
by amateur gentlemen. Countess Annette Benkendorff, 
the daughter of the present Governor of the city, and a 
young lady whose loveliness would be irresistible but 
for a most atrocious squint; Madame Krudener, decidedly 
the recognized beauty and a great favourite ; and Madame 
Bartinieff, a dame d'honneur in high favour, were the 
three most conspicuous of the Russian ladies, aided by 
thirty or forty others who formed a line with them on the 
platform and joined in the singing. At the head, however, 
of the songstresses was the magnet of the evening, the 
celebrated and incomparable Sontag, now Countess 
Rossi. She had been persuaded to run the risk of reviving 
past recollections, to forget that she had stepped from 
the boards of the opera into the rank of a minister and 
the arms of a Count, and to lead the flower of Rus- 
sian noblesse and fashion on this benevolent occasion. 
What a splendid triumph did a single gift of nature 
seem to obtain ! Her voice overwhelmed competition, 
and by its wonderful volume and sweetness produced a 
sort of enchantment which made you for a while insensi- 
ble to anything else. The Czar, his Court and his Army, 
all seemed to lose their prestige and their power while 
that magical voice dominated the ear. She sang twice, 
first the finale of Donizetti's opera, "Anna Bolena," and 

1 6* 



I78 DIARY OF GEORGE MIf-FLIN DALLAS. 

was in this accompanied by Madame BartiniefF and 
Madame Krudener and three gentlemen ; second, Bel- 
lini's " Norma." The effect of the last song was beyond 
description, and the applause was vehement and pro- 
tracted. It recalled Malibran to my mind, and yet 
seemed superior by the addition to her voice of that of 
her father, Garcia. Nothing could be richer, nothing 
could be clearer, nothing could be vaster, nothing could 
be softer, nothing could be deeper, nothing could be 
more delicate, and nothing could be more decided. I 
might go on multiplying epithets without describing a 
bit more distinctly. On the whole, I think it was the 
best singing I ever heard, and as good as can be. The 
manner of the Countess was perhaps a little constrained 
in the effort to avoid relapsing into the cantatrice, and on 
two occasions, instead of confining her courtesy to the 
Empress, she for an instant bent to the applauding audi- 
ence. I doubt much whether this taste of the glory of 
past times was not more really delightful to her than any 
of the rank or other results of her marriage. She was 
sent for by the Empress at the close of her song, an act 
which is the common courtesy shown to professional 
songsters, and which has been constantly shown to 
Taglioni, — I thought the discriminating delicacy of her 
Majesty might have avoided on this occasion. 

1839. April 4. — Received a notification from the 
Master of Ceremonies of a Court Circle to be held in 
the Whiter Palace I on Tuesday next. 

The discreditable practice of opening letters as they 
pass through the Post-Office — a practice said to be uni- 
versal, and of which I have had convincing proofs — is 
attested by several anecdotes current here, of which I 
note the two following. Not long ago one of the For- 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 79 

eign Ministers complained in person to Count Nessel- 
rode that he had received a bundle of despatches through 
the Post-Office, rumpled, torn, and obviously having 
been opened. The Count coolly observed, " It must 
have been done very carelessly : I will give instructions 
against such negligence in future." On another occa- 
sion, the Swedish Minister, meeting the Director-Gen- 
eral of the Post-Office, casually said to him that his 
subordinates ought to be more careful in their process 
of examining his letters; the Director gravely protested 
that nothing of the sort was done. " Oh, I don't mind 
it," said the Baron ; " but as in their hurry they sent me 
my despatches from Stockholm with the seal of the 
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Holland, I think they 
want lecturing." The Director only replied with the 
exclamation, " Is it possible?" 

1839. April 7. — This being the Russian Easter, all the 
churches were crowded at midnight to perform the cere- 
mony of welcoming it. The Imperial Court and high 
priesthood assembled in the Winter Palace, Mass is said ; 
the clergy circulate in their numerous chapels as if to 
search for the buried Christ ; they retire behind the doors, 
and at a particular moment the holy doors fly open, 
when the priests in their fullest costume proclaim to the 
people, with exultation, " Christ is risen !" All the 
church-bells are immediately in full chorus, salutes of 
artillery are fired, and everybody embraces his neighbour 
with the enthusiastic outcry, " Christ is risen !" The 
uproar seemed to be prolonged until three o'clock this 
morning. The ensuing week is the liveliest carnival. 

1839. April IO - — The reoccupation of the Winter Palace 
has been signalized by splendid " gratifications' from the 
Emperor to those who have contributed to its reconstruc- 



l8o DIARY OF GEO AGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

tion. General Klein-Mehel has received a loan of one 
million of roubles with which to purchase an estate, and 
the Order of St. Andrew, with a gold medal surrounded 
by brilliants. Count Cernicheff received as a gift three 
hundred thousands roubles, and it is supposed will be 
sent Ambassador to Vienna, a post for which Benken- 
dorff and Clien-Mehel are his competitors. All the 
subordinate labourers on the Palace have received silver 
medals, and now parade them on their breasts at the 
Cachelles. At this season of every year it is customary 
to distribute more or less of these Imperial favours. 

The mortality among the workmen engaged in re- 
building the Winter Palace is represented to have been 
frightful. As the Emperor had undertaken to re-enter 
during the feasts of Easter, immense heat was kept up 
in the interior to dry the walls, etc., and this produced 
all sorts of fatal disorders. Of course, this effect of his 
will was not communicated to his Majesty. 

1839. April 14. — The Court Circle, intended to have 
been held at the Winter Palace on Tuesday last, was 
deferred, owing to the fatigue and indisposition of the 
Empress, to this day, at noon. I reached the Diplomatic 
reception-room without traversing much of the residue 
of this magnificent, newly-finished structure. The base- 
ment affords accommodations for any crowds of servants ; 
and the white marble stairway leading to the upper 
story, with its lofty, painted, and gilded ceiling, and its 
ornamental statuary, is vast, striking, and beautiful. The 
apartment assigned to the Foreign Ministers was one 
in which a small and handsome throne occupied the 
centre of a large recess, immediately in front of a paint- 
ing of Peter the Great guided by Wisdom ; its walls 
were of crimson velvet studded with gold double-headed 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. l8l 

eagles somewhat larger than a man's hand ; from the 
vaulted ceiling hung the richest and tastiest chandelier 
of solid silver, chased and worked into oak-wreaths en- 
circling Russian eagles, the immense size of which sur- 
prised me; against the walls a number of lustres of the 
same rich and solid material, each six or eight feet high, 
exquisitely elaborated, were attached, and in two piers 
stood wide tables of pure silver. The mixture of gold 
and silver, though it seemed to increase the gorgeous 
display, detracted from the taste of the ensemble. The 
steps and floor of the platform on which the throne 
stood were carpeted with rich crimson velvet; the rest 
of the floor was figured and waxed wood. 

1839. April 15. — I procured tickets for the admission 
of my family to explore the Winter Palace, and we re- 
paired thither at one o'clock. We entered by the great 
central door on the river-side and mounted the noble 
marble staircase, whose solid, carved, and polished ban- 
isters of the same material particularly struck us. We 
travelled rather too rapidly through this vast building; 
except the quarters designed for the Duke and Duchess 
of Leuchtenberg, and some of the largest halls or 
saloons, especially that of St. George, not yet quite fin- 
ished, we visited in succession the great saloons of State, 
and of banquet, and of dance, the Imperial Chapel and 
the private Chapel of the Emperor, the " Salle des Mare- 
chaux" the suite of private apartments appropriated to 
the Empress, another suite appropriated to the Czar, 
another suite to the Grand Duchesses Marie and Olga, 
another suite to the Grand Duke Heritier, another suite 
to the younger sons, and an infinite variety of halls, 
antechambers, corridors, and galleries, which cannot be 
particularly designated. In surveying the endless elab- 



1 82 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

oration of work of all kinds bestowed upon this build- 
ing, one is utterly at a loss to comprehend how it could 
be executed by human means in the course of the brief 
interval between the conflagration and the present mo- 
ment. An exclamation to this effect involuntarily 
escapes the lips as you enter each one of the more im- 
portant chambers. The Imperial Chapel alone, with its 
minute and various carving and gilding, would seem to 
have necessarily exacted more time. Every department 
of art, from its humblest to its highest region, — architec- 
ture, painting, sculpture ; all the mechanic arts ; the 
working in gold, in silver, in brass, in iron, in glass, 
in all sorts of woods and stones and cloths, — with the 
heads to arrange and direct, and the arms to procure 
and fashion and fasten material, must have been put 
under high steam pressure without abatement or cessa- 
tion. Nothing more exquisitely luxurious, costly, and 
refined can be imagined than the private apartments of 
the Empress. They remind one of the descriptions in 
Lalla Rookh, of the Moorish Alhambra, of Sardana- 
palus, and of the Arabian Nights. Her parlour, with 
its ponderous golden doors, pilasters of malachite, 
screens of cut glass variously coloured, arched ceiling 
beautifully painted, and corresponding furniture and or- 
naments; her bedroom, with its coverlid, an entire piece 
of point lace about ten feet square, reposing on a sky-blue 
satin bed, and its toilet-table with more than a hundred 
elegantly shaped and worked vessels and mirror frames, 
all of massive gold; her Turkish bath-room, with its 
soft, deep, impalpable carpet, its fantastic walls, its fount, 
its shell-reservoir, its white marble basin, and its adjoin- 
ing mirrors; her elysian bower, with the vast sunken 
bath, and its white marble walls and stairway, and its 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 83 

jet d'eau in the centre, with flowers and shrubbery 
ever blooming and fragrant around ; her rose-coloured 
tea-room, which seems to the eye like a bouquet of deli- 
cate roses; her family sitting-room, with the miniatures 
of her husband and children fastened to screens that 
encircle lounges, and the thousand knickknackeries of 
precious stones, and the delicious paintings of Raphael, 
and the carved ivory boxes, and the beautiful full-length 
statue of herself in one corner : all these and many ad- 
ditional may be noted, but cannot be described except 
in the poetical language of Tom Moore, Washington 
Irving, or Lord Byron. There was a striking and agree- 
able difference between these apartments and those of 
the Autocrat. In the latter, nothing was feminine, every- 
thing elegant, commodious, nothing useless or trifling. 
He has no bed, he has no carpets, he has no toilet- 
table, he has no knickknackery. Such also were the 
rooms of the Grand Duke. The Grand Duchess's, on 
the contrary, partook of the delicacy and luxury of the 
Empress's. I noticed that his Majesty has transferred 
Horace Vernet's Review by Napoleon from the Hermit- 
age to a corner of one of his private apartments. The 
two paintings by Vanloo, in the principal parlour of the 
Duchess Marie, are exceedingly well selected and beauti- 
ful. We penetrated into the room assigned as the sanc- 
tuary of the Imperial crown jewels through immense 
folding-doors of iron ; but the glass cases in their golden 
frames were patiently and in emptiness waiting for their 
destined contents. In the chambers of the younger 
children was a room provided with a small sentry-box, 
two small muskets, and the posts used in front of guard- 
houses as props for arms: this is the military closet of 
the two Grand Dukes. In one of the rooms of the 



1 84 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Empress I was pleased with the apparent lightness and 
finish of the sofas, chairs, and tables; they were of iron, 
highly polished, and looking like the most fragile 
ebony. 

1839. April 17. — No stranger can pretend to ascertain 
with any certainty the military forces of this Empire. 
Official records (the only sure proof) are, of course, 
locked in impenetrable mystery. Conversation with 
the highest functionaries on the subject is never other- 
wise than vague and speculative. Most of them are in- 
tentionally kept ignorant, and the very few who really do 
know something about the matter with precision, deem 
the details of a nature to justify their being wary and 
evasive. Generally, there is an obvious tendency to ex- 
aggerate the number of the army and navy; but, at the 
largest estimate I have heard or seen, the Russian army 
is not such as to warrant the impression that prevails 
through Europe and elsewhere of the colossal power of 
the nation. Let us see. 

The most overrated accounts represent the Russian 
military — that is, the organized regular army — as ex- 
ceeding a million. I do not doubt its being at least 
eight hundred thousand. Is this enough to make Rus- 
sia a permanently formidable and dangerous power? 
It should be recollected that an army is only formidable 
to other countries as it may be moved and directed 
abroad. If it cannot quit home, however strong for pro- 
tection it may be, it is nothing that need be feared. 
Now, the government of this vast Empire, in all its rami- 
fications, is conducted by and through its army; the 
whole machine is an encampment. The police is mili- 
tary ; the collection of the revenue is military; the public 
institutions of all kinds, which are very numerous, are 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 85 

under the care of the military ; the mint, the banks, the 
great schools, the palaces, and Imperial estates are in 
the management and custody of the military. So much 
of the army as is thus engaged is without the power of 
locomotion ; there is nothing to take its place and per- 
form its duties as a substitute, even for the shortest time ; 
there is not and cannot be anything like a militia. To 
maintain civil government, then, at home must exact the 
constant presence of a large proportion of the million. 
Then, again, there are certain duties universally re- 
garded as of a strictly military character which, never- 
theless, divide, weaken, and keep stationary another 
large proportion. The frontiers are extensive, and must 
be guarded ; the colonies require fixed protection ; the 
garrisons, forts, arsenals, war academies, foundries, etc., 
must be kept going. If to these considerations you add 
the broad and practical necessity of securing a despotism 
against popular conspiracies and frenzies, by an unceasing 
display of bayonets and troops, what becomes of the lofty- 
sounding and dread-inspiring million of soldiers? I 
should say that three-fourths of them, however effective 
for domestic purposes, are nothing, perhaps worse than 
nothing, in relation to their capacity to do mischief 
abroad. Even for defence, they are not comparable to 
our million and a half of militia, simply because, accord- 
ing to the existing system, they must everywhere dis- 
charge essential municipal duties, and are thus incompetent 
to movability or concentration. 

Taking the million, therefore, as a correct cipher of 
the Russian army, its real warlike, disposable force can- 
not exceed 200,000 or 250,000 men. I mean to say they 
cannot cross their frontiers with a larger number to assail 
others. And if so, Austria has her 750,000 men, Prussia 

17 



I 86 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

her 450,000, Bavaria her 70,000, and the rest of the German 
Confederacy its 400,000! 

1839. April 19. — Tchiacheff, who was strongly recom- 
mended to me by the Emperor for his intelligence, told 
me in confidence yesterday that his Majesty's energy of 
character had been signally tested during the last win- 
ter, — he had repressed no less than four formidable con- 
spiracies. This is the first Russian whom I have met 
with that will venture to talk on such a subject. He has 
travelled a year or two in the United States. 

At eight o'clock, expecting to meet all the Imperial 
family, we went to the ball at Prince Youssoupoff's. 
The Emperor and Grand Duke Michel attended, but the 
Empress excused herself by sending word that her physi- 
cian advised her staying at home, and all the Grand 
Duchesses remained with her. The interest of the even- 
ing to me arose from the presence of Marshal Paskevitch, 
with whom I had several agreeable chats. He is a younger 
man than I had supposed, has a lively air, and is frank and 
agreeable in conversation. He told me he was fifty-five. 
His decorations, crosses, and orders were extremely bril- 
liant, glittering on his left breast and from around his 
neck like a huge mass of diamonds. The Czar, after his 
usual kind shake of the hand, said he had not been to a 
party for nine weeks ; that he wanted to induce his wife, 
whose health was bad, to stay at home by setting the 
example. Everybody agreed in considering the enter- 
tainment the most splendid which could be given in 
Europe by any person below royalty. The whole of the 
magnificent house was thrown open, and I have seen 
nothing here to surpass the elegance of the ballroom 
and the great supper-hall, which communicated by a 
columned passage, at first crowded with flowers and 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 87 

curtained. As two harmonious and united apartments, 
they are not surpassed by anything at the Winter Palace 
or Hermitage. They are of white mock marble; the 
ballroom, an immense square, with splendid pilasters, 
its ceiling arched and richly painted; the banqueting- 
room, a vast oblong, with vaulted ceiling carved in re- 
lief, and supported by twenty immense Corinthian col- 
umns of the purest and most polished white, with two 
galleries, one at each extremity, for music. Nothing 
could transcend the magic of the supper: its groves of 
orange-trees, towering eight or ten feet above the heads 
of the guests, and laden with fruit and flowers ; its gor- 
geous arbours, prepared for the Empress, over which 
hung in clusters ripe, red, white, and purple, intermingled 
with leaves, grapes of the largest and most luscious ap- 
pearance; its gorgeous and glittering table ornaments; 
its golden chandeliers ; its dazzling company, and still 
more dazzling liveried servants. When from these two 
rooms the eye passed to the adjoining ones, to the ante- 
chambers, the refreshment saloon, the endless suite of 
halls and galleries devoted to paintings and sculpture, 
the card-rooms, and the expansive branching stone stair- 
case, flanked with marble statues and fragrant with ex- 
otics, it was difficult to suppose the whole the creation 
and property of a private subject. He is said, however, 
to enjoy an incalculable revenue. He is, however, suffi- 
ciently noted already in the Diary. I could not help 
thinking that the Empress stayed away, not because of 
any real malady, for she walked on the English Quay 
this morning, but in order to avoid witnessing or coun- 
tenancing a fete that approached too near the Imperial 
style to be agreeable in a subject. The poor Princess, 
who had hoped to make it worthy of her mistress and 



I 88 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

her guest, looked the picture of despair when told that 
she could not come. 

1839. April 20. — The evening spent at the soiree dan- 
sante of Countess Schimmelpenninck. I met here most 
of the diplomatic charges and secretaries, the ladies 
Shakoffsky, Serriavene, Paschkoff, Soltikoff, Brunoff, Plei- 
cheyeff, Chevietz, Cavacoff, etc. Among the gentlemen 
were Villafranca and General Danieleffsky. I had with 
the last a long and interesting conversation on the con- 
dition and history of Russia, and the characters of the 
Emperors Alexander and Nicholas. His mind is turned 
closely to these subjects, and he is now actually pre- 
paring for the press a work on the campaigns and policy 
of the late autocrat. He accompanied Alexander as 
confidential secretary throughout all his great move- 
ments from the year 1804. He recently finished a por- 
tion of his history, and sent it to the Emperor for perusal. 
Shortly afterwards, while riding on the English Quay, he 
saw his Majesty walking, who made him descend from 
his caleche. " Savez-vous, mon cher," said he, " que 
votre ouvrage m'a coute bien de larmes !" He then 
spoke of the excellent heart and forbearing temper of his 
deceased brother in the tenderest manner, and declared 
that he had described the gentleness and wisdom of 
Alexander amid crosses and obstacles which would have 
made him " crever de colere." Danieleffsky looks upon 
Nicholas as a man of extraordinary energy and most de- 
termined purpose. " And think of such a person," ex- 
claimed he, " avowing that he had wept over a narrative 
of his brother's virtues and trials ! Such a monarch to 
talk of shedding tears !" 

Among other matters, I remarked to Danieleffsky 
that I felt surprised at their retaining, in a country like 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 89 

this, the law for the equal distribution of intestate estates, 
abolishing primogeniture ; that their aristocracy must in- 
evitably become poor and lose their consequence ; and 
that we regarded such a law as the very corner-stone of 
our republicanism. He replied simply, this is a despot- 
ism. Our Senate now merely records after attesting the 
Imperial ukases. Peter the Great once made an ukase 
establishing " les majorats," or the right of primogeniture. 
The nobles soon felt their independence, and in less than 
twelve years the Senate, while recognizing Peter's title 
to the throne, had advanced so far in their pretensions 
that they presented for his signature a written constitu- 
tion of government! The law was certainly not the 
exclusive cause of this, — great political results require 
a combination of causes, — but it was the leading cause, 
and Peter abolished it without delay. Thus, when 
the object is the same, the abasement or destruction of 
aristocracy, a republic and a despot must pursue the 
same course. 

1839. May 2. — The ice began to move downward just 
below the bridge this morning. It remained stationary, 
however, opposite the English Quay, until half-past nine 
in the evening, when it moved slowly, and the bridge was 
swung to the inland shore. 

The Emperor met young Meyendorff with a com- 
panion near the Boulevards the other day. He was on 
horseback, they walking on foot. Having been long 
absent from Russia, the young men did not know the 
person of the sovereign, and of course omitted the cus- 
tomary bow. His Majesty immediately dismounted, 
went up to them, and reprimanded them sternly. They 
in vain pleaded their ignorance of his figure. He or- 
dered them to proceed forthwith to the guard-house, 

17* 



I90 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

and, upon their remaining stationary, not knowing 
where the guard-house was, he called up a sentinel, 
and directed him to accompany them to the prison. 
They were extremely alarmed, wept bitterly, and were 
immured for some hours in a wretched cell. At the 
expiration of that time, a guard announced to them that 
the Emperor had ordered them to be escorted to the 
Anischkoff Palace. They went, expecting little short 
of Siberia or decapitation. When at the palace, they 
were stationed near a corner of one of the apartments, 
and then left to themselves. They were surprised to 
notice that several young ladies now and then popped 
their heads in at the door, and, looking at them for an 
instant, retreated laughing. At last the Emperor came 
in, and, walking towards them, said, " Young gentlemen, 
you have had lesson enough for the present. I am sure 
that you will know me hereafter, wherever you may see 
me. And now, to remove the impressions of the day, 
come and dine with my family and myself." 

As an illustration of the extent to which the most im- 
portant matters are subject here to Imperial whims, I 
got the following from young Count Nesselrode : The 
Empress, having written a letter to her father, gave it to 
a servant to put into the hands of a courier, then waiting 
to start. The servant, misunderstanding the order, de- 
posited the letter in the post-office, and the mistake was 
not discovered until five or six hours had elapsed. In 
the meanwhile, the regular mail for Prussia, and, indeed, 
all Western Europe, was made up and despatched. As 
soon as she was told what had been done, the Empress 
sent an express to command the whole mail, bag and 
baggage, back to St. Petersburg. About fifteen hours 
were lost. Everything was reopened, the Imperial mis- 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. I9I 

sive recovered and placed in the courier's care, and then, 
but not till then, the mail allowed to resume its journey. 

1839. May 3. — An Imperial " Cercle" at noon in the 
Winter Palace. It was more than usually brilliant, es- 
pecially in the attendance of a throng of Senators in 
their full dress costume of scarlet, embroidered with 
gold, and white underclothes. The Emperor asked me 
which one of the American Legation had recently gone to 
the United States. I told him no person ; that a merchant, 
some four or five weeks ago, had been given a courier's 
pass, but no individual attached to the Legation had left 
it. He said somebody had told him otherwise, and he 
could not conceive who it was that had gone. The 
Empress asked particularly about Philip, whom she 
said she saw often on the quay. One of the family of 
the Austrian Esterhazys was presented. His dress was 
Hungarian, exceeding rich and becoming, but very 
fanciful. 

1839. May 5. — A great ball and supper given by their 
Imperial Majesties at the Winter Palace. Mrs. Dallas 
and I repaired to it at half-past eight. There were said 
to be a thousand persons present ; among others, two 
tinselled and ugly Queens of Georgia. With all its 
magnificence, it was dreadfully tedious and fatiguing 1 . 

1839. May 10. — For the first time this spring, we 
walked in the summer gardens between two and four 
o'clock. The alleys were crowded with fashion and 
rank, and among them all the ladies of the Imperial 
family. There is, however, not a symptom of verdure 
or vegetation, and the air, notwithstanding the bright- 
ness of the sun, is rather chilly. The river is free from 
ice at present. The Emperor has been feverish, and 
acain leeched. 



OF GEC 

- 
5 

rhts. It is s 

s 

been h< was 

- 
- - entertains 1 
.11 the pub', c ell as mil 

:i their official cos 
- 
S3 • : — fne 

:he sum- 
ges ess an equi- 

the idle and hid :npe- 

5 

ij. — This being I ig I\ 

jh holiday, and in 
ebrated by im:v 
ids of music in the summer 
ens tn t 1 time it is s 1 cus- 

. de the m nical 

■ 
There 5 nothing 

the thr. s nos try cc posed of 

le peculi. 
disapp earing; an 

- -" - ■ 
539. Jtmt y* — 1 ring, after long and 

under the solemn conviction that it 

ome 
- - u ec ere not sent before 1 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. [93 

i' ai hi '1 there, to abide the decision of the President 
whether I should return here myself or not. I accord- 
ingly inquired into the best modes of quitting, and find 
that my most convenient and economical course will be 
to proceed hence to Havre on board the steamer The 
Paris, on the 24th of July next. I must set about pre- 
paring for this. 

1839. June 25. — Strange and interesting rumours are 
afloat. It is said that the intended wedding in the Im- 
perial family, which was appointed for the 2d of July, 
will be postponed till September. Some ascribe this to 
the interference of the mother of Prince Leuchtcnberg, 
who cannot consent that her grandchildren shall be all 
brought up to the Greek Church, as the Emperor has 
insisted; others ascribe it to the necessity of waiting 
till the great review at Borodino shall be terminated; 
others to the continued illness of the Empress ; others 
to the universal repugnance manifested by the Russian 
nobility to the match. Most persons agree that, if once 
postponed for any cause, there is danger it will not take 
place at all. Another rumour is of political moment, — that 
Ibrahim Pacha is about to lead his army, in alliance with 
Persia, against the British Indies. 

1839. J une 2 7- — Agreeably to arrangement, went at 
half-past nine in the morning, by the railroad, to Sarsko- 
Selo. We had with us Madame Daschkoff and Mr. 
Chew. On arriving at the car-office at Sarsko, we hired 
five double-seated droschkies, and drove en cavalcade to 
see the gardens and their wonders. We first entered 
the great and older Palace. In the chapel, which was 
of Chinese order, rich black and gold, a mass was 
quietly performing by two priests for the repose of the 
soul of the late Grand Duke or Emperor Constantinc. 



194 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

The quantity of carved gilding was beyond description 
in all directions. I stepped off one dining- and dancing- 
room, ornamented at each end with shelves on shelves 
of ancient China vases, and found it to be one hundred 
and fifty feet in length. The apartment, completely cov- 
ered with amber, some of it most exquisitely cut, is 
more curious than handsome. It was a present from 
Frederick of Prussia to Catherine II. The room, whose 
floor is worked with mother of pearl, rather disappointed 
expectation ; but the agate room, though small, is ex- 
ceedingly beautiful. The cabinets are all in great luxury 
and taste. But the most delightful portion of this vast 
pile is certainly the lofty colonnade erected by Catherine 
II., which commands the most beautiful prospects, is 
reached from the gardens by a gigantic stairway adorned 
by two huge bronze statues of Heventer and Peace, and 
is enriched by a succession of fine bronze busts of ancient 
worthies. Among the latter I detected, at a distance, 
the head of Fox, by Nollekens, executed in 1791, and 
stationed between those of Demosthenes and Cicero. 
At a distance was seen a pavilion on the grassy margin 
of a large lake, which on examination I found to contain 
some beautiful marbles, especially two Turkish busts, a 
male and female; and in another direction rose an obe- 
lisk dedicated to Sumaroff. Some fine swans are re- 
posing near the water. On quitting this Palace, we took 
again to our droschkies and proceeded to what is called 
the large garden, into which we drove in search of various 
objects of notoriety and taste. The mock ruin of a 
chateau first attracted us ; and we here saw the statue of 
Christ, of pure white Italian marble, executed by Dan- 
necker in 1824. It was standing alone in a gloomy and 
desolate apartment, and seemed almost to furnish the 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 95 

only light we had. The drapery is a long delicate shirt, 
and suggests the idea that the artist intended to repre- 
sent our Saviour as he rose from the sepulchre. There 
was something fine in the clear brightness of this tall, 
pure figure contrasted with the sombre-seeming desola- 
tion around it. Our next visit was to a collection of 
llamas, whose necks and heads struck us as remarkably 
graceful and spirited, the round black eye especially, — 
although they in general bear so near a resemblance to 
young camels. We thence went though numerous and 
beautiful windings to the antique armoury; and here 
we were treated with a sight of uncommon interest and 
splendour. The Emperor has collected a vast number 
of almost every description of ancient armours, particu- 
larly those of the early Sclavonians and those of the 
middle ages connected with chivalry, and has adapted 
them to figures, both on foot and on horseback, so ad- 
mirably, as to represent to the eye the use and character 
of each perfectly. One hall has the Round Table in it, 
with mounted knights encircling it, in the full equip- 
ment of steel, some in the act of making battle, and 
others receiving the reward of valour. The immense 
swords, double-handed and rapiers, the richly-cut and 
emblazoned shields, the casque of every shape and con- 
trivance, the enormous stirrups and rowels, the battle- 
axes and lances, the chain hangings, and the various 
trappings to protect and adorn the horses, all were in 
reality before us and in exquisite distinctness and truth. 
Several smaller halls were similarly filled with full-sized 
images and innumerable weapons. Here was the veri- 
table sword of Tamerlane, one of Dmitri Ivan, one of 
Peter the Great, many that had been successfully em- 
ployed by great Russian generals, and Turkish sabres 



ig on 

■ 

many a 

shown the s 
i at Moscow, th< apart- 

ments randa, wil 

\ 
In on< 

i all s 

Mahmoud at the 
lople. T' s 
and bridles are cc ids, som< of which 

;.mtly 

The knobs of the pistols 

are hi is, the handles of the swords and their 

and the \ ops are " s N thing can 

surpass the m these articles, 

truly worthy to 5 is as N cholas 

from the s >r ot" Mahom< S n. We were 

I that had been nearly worn out by Charles 
XII. Sweden : . our ears were stunned, th 

>ng which was struck by our 

attendant. We all regretted the necessity of leaving 

I - iteresting museum, whos igement was sc 

itents were so inestimable, without 

o more time for a thorough examina- 

Our course was then direct 5 called 

id the res :' the 

The cows and buh.~ -uperb animals, — 

lish, Dutch. Tyrolese, and Bohemian ; nothing could be 



AT THE COURT OF TI/E CZAR. \<-j7 

fatter, fuller, more contented and more clean. They 
were literally living in clover, which, fresh cut, was 
collected in heaps, ready for their mouths. Their 
palaces were commodious and as fragrant as a pail of 
new milk ; defended on one side from the sun by white 
curtains, and painted and kept perfectly white. One of 
the palaces is for their winter accommodation, cl 
and warmer than the other, which is open and cool. 
1 lie creatures .seemed to revel in sober delight with 
their Imperial fare, lodging, and condition, and gazed 
on us in all the good humour of conscious luxury. 
The region of milk, cream, butter, and cheese, with its 
sweet atmosphere, its ice-house, its spring-house, its 
storehouse of various crockery, and, finally, its snug 
parlours prepared for the accommodation of the Imperial 
family whenever they thought proper to drink the b 
age peculiar to the place, or to eat the sour cream much 
in vogue, were all inspected and admired, while we were 
guided by a young German woman both neat and pretty. 
The sheep were not at home. 1 inquired the way to the 
horses, expecting to have a view of the present stables 
and their glorious inhabitants, but was directed to a 
building of less interest; it was the stable of the " Pen- 
sioned Steeds." These were the aged and worn-out 
favourites of the late and present monarch : one had 
borne Alexander when he entered Paris, and another 
had carried Nicholas against the Turks; one was called 
Fritz, another Matilda, etc., and none were less than 
twenty-seven years of age. Several seemed scarcely 
able to stand. Great attention is paid to their food and 
comfort; they arc walked out a certain distance every 
day for exercise on the green sward, but no bridle, 
saddle, or anything of the sort is allowed to remind 

18 



I98 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

them of their past vassalage. Among them was a 
favourite riding-horse of the Empress and a pony used 
by the present Grand Duke Alexander when a boy. 
On one side of this building, and under the shade of 
aloes and beeches, are erected some five or six granite 
tombs, each covering the remains of a dead horse, whose 
length and peculiarity of service, name, age, etc., are set 
forth as in ordinary monumental inscriptions. The man 
who ciceroned us among these graves spoke of their 
contents with a most pathetic manner and tone. 

We were obliged, for want of time, and feeling the 
fatigue of more than six hours of exertion, to forego 
visiting the many other objects of curiosity with which 
these celebrated gardens abound. Driving off, therefore, 
on our return to the village we only stopped at the noble 
Palace in which the Imperial family usually live when 
at Sarsko. Although hurried and exhausted, it was im- 
possible to restrain our exclamations of delight as we 
passed through this vast suite of splendid apartments. 
What paintings ! A pyramid of flowers by Voelchens ! 
Delicious studies by Horace Vernet ! Italian pieces of 
the finest style ! Then the furniture and its accessaries ! 
The cabinets of the Emperor, which he has crowded 
with delineations of the different uniforms of his soldiery 
in all parts of this great camp, or has ranged on shelves 
and in glass cases exact models, about two feet high, of 
every company of his glittering cavalry, and on long 
tables diminutive copies of his brazen artillery and 
mortars, deserved a day to themselves, but we could not 
give them five minutes. Madame Daschkoff, who seized 
a chair for repose whenever our attention got irresistibly 
fixed, pointed out the wooden hill or smooth, inclined 
plane at which a maid of honour, in the act of sportively 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 1 99 

descending, had the misfortune or carelessness to strike 
against and completely knock over no less a personage 
than the autocrat himself! The columns in front of this 
Palace, and which form a lofty colonnade from two of 
its sides, struck me as uncommonly graceful and effective. 
We proceeded to the hotel of the railway, ordered and 
ate a beefsteak, which was really very good, or which our 
appetites made us think so, and getting into the cars at 
four o'clock reached home pretty considerably tired out, 
but indescribably gratified by our excursion. 

1839. July 8. — Received this evening from the Master 
of Ceremonies three copies of the printed programme of 
the ceremonial of the marriage of the Grand Duchess 
Marie and the Duke de Leuchtenberg, and of the Court 
fetes which are to follow. 

We went this evening to visit Countess Laval at her 
country residence. While there, our coachman, in a fit 
of rage, beat the postilion so cruelly that his life is de- 
spaired of. I was obliged to send Mrs. Dallas and my 
daughters home in the carriage of Mr. Harris ; and, 
having given the police-officer, called to the scene, per- 
mission to take the coachman into custody, I finally 
persuaded two of Count Borke's servants to drive me 
into the city, leaving directions that a physician should 
be procured and every attention paid to the injured 
postilion, who was removed to a hospital. 

1839. July 9.— Having received our " billets d'entree," 
we went this afternoon to see the " trousseau" of the 
Grand Duchess Marie. It is displayed in the " Salle 
Blanche" of the Winter Palace. The throng of visitors 
was immense, producing a heat and a pressure nearly in- 
supportable. Our party got broken into detachments, 
and we were obliged to move along with the dense tide, 



200 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

without being able to see all that was exhibited, or 
to examine anything closely. The Court dresses, with 
their rich embroidered trains, were the most conspicuous 
objects, and were certainly very splendid. I counted in 
all one hundred and forty dresses, most of them exceed- 
ingly elegant, and some of them morning wrappers 
trimmed with lace. The four sets of jewelry were in 
two large glass desks. The toilet-tables and their orna- 
ments, one of chased silver and the other highly-worked 
silver-gilt, were strikingly beautiful, — the former pur- 
chased as a present for his sister by the Grand Duke 
Alexander on his recent visit in England. Nothing could 
surpass the collection of furs, the Cashmere shawls, the 
countless bonnets, the laced and worked pocket-hand- 
kerchiefs, and all the et ceteras of a fashionable toilet. 
The services of porcelain and of silver and of silver gilt, 
each of great taste and execution, and apparently calcu- 
lated for the largest scale of entertainment, formed, to 
my eye, the richest part of the display. Glass, in its 
most attractive shapes and in vast quantities, loaded 
several tables. The table-cloths, napkins, etc., were end- 
less. Even the culinary apparatus was admirable. In- 
deed, it was impossible to imagine an article of use or 
ornament with which a bride should be provided that was 
not here in utmost perfection and in exhaustless quantity. 
The whole was truly imperial, and must have cost very 
little, if at all, short of a million of dollars. 

On returning from the trousseau, we visited the im- 
mense ship of 1 20 guns in the new Admiralty which is 
about being launched. She is completely ready to glide 
into the water, and only waits a nod from the Emperor, 
who will probably add that spectacle to the others with 
which he proposes to signalize his daughter's marriage. 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 201 

She is called The Russia, is 206 feet long, and the largest 
in the Russian navy, except one in the Black Sea, called 
The Three Saints. The iron-roofed shed under which 
she has been built is one of the lightest, neatest, most 
beautiful structures I ever beheld. 

1839. July IO - — Count Nesselrode apprised me by note 
yesterday that he would receive me at his office to-day at 
two o'clock, and I went accordingly. I explained to him 
that I had my letter of recall ; that I proposed going by 
the Tage on the 24th instant, and I wished him to have 
my passport prepared, for which I left him a written list 
of my family, and that I hoped to have my audience-of- 
leave as soon as the fetes of the wedding were over. He 
politely assented to all this, and hoped that on my return 
to the United States I would be an advocate for con- 
tinued friendship between the two countries. I had 
enumerated, among my family, Alexander, my Russian 
servant, who intends to accompany me; and the Count 
requested me to send to him the passport Alexander had 
obtained from the Governor of the city, that he might 
see that it was all right. 

Count Bobrinsky called on me, and sat, inquiring 
about America, for a full hour. He promises to visit the 
United States as soon as the Grand Duchess Olga, to 
whom he is attached as chief Chamberlain, is married. 

Received the regular diplomatic invitation to the 
approaching wedding and its fetes. 

1839. July 12. — The news from the Sublime Porte con- 
tinues to agitate, as the Sultan is said to be much worse, 
and the conflict between the Turks and Egyptians is going 
on. The Russian Czar is understood to be expressly 
bound by treaty to aid the Turks. Count Michel 
Woronzow, the Governor of Odessa, and one of the 

18* 



202 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

most distinguished nobleman of the Empire in wealth, 
character, and influence, came to see me this morning, 
and remained, in various and interesting conversation, for 
more than an hour. He is remarkable for the unaffected 
simplicity of his manners and his intelligence on all 
topics. His left breast and neck were literally covered 
with orders, among which was conspicuous the Cross of 
St. George. He told me that all the great powers of 
Europe were in accord in the opinion that peace ought 
to be maintained, if possible, between Mahmoud and 
Mehemet Ali, but that appearances were just now very 
unpromising. In speaking upon the progress of human 
discovery and science, he remarked that the application 
of steam to propelling vessels through the water was, in 
fact, very far from being a modern idea ; that he had 
himself read a passage in an old Spanish author, named 
Vilarete, in which it was as clear as language could 
make it, that an ingenious mechanic had undertaken 
the experiment before Charles V., and that, though he 
failed, its practicability was asserted by the historian, 
though he alleged that the machinery would be always 
liable to burst. So, also, he said, that during the reign 
of Louis XIV. a Frenchman was visited at an insane 
hospital by a celebrated English nobleman, who after- 
wards claimed the merit of discovering the steam-engine ; 
that the alleged madman was so called and treated sim- 
ply because he had over and over again pestered the 
chief of the Department of the Marine with earnest en- 
treaties for pecuniary assistance to enable him to show 
how vessels could be navigated by steam; and the Count 
mentioned an authoress in whose works the whole of 
this last statement was made. The great merits, however, 
of Fulton were admitted as unquestionable. 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 203 

1839. fafy l 4- — At twelve o'clock, accompanied by- 
Mrs. Dallas, I went to the Winter Palace, agreeably to 
invitations, to witness the marriage of the Grand Duchess 
Marie and the Prince Maximilian of Leuchtenberg. The 
foreign Ministers and ladies, after waiting with the gen- 
eral company for some time, were escorted by Count 
Woronzow to the chapel, and arranged on the two sides 
nearest the chancel, forming an alley for the Imperial 
cortege. We noticed that two pairs of pigeons entered 
at the open windows, and alighted, after flying around 
the dome, over the altar, — an incident that may have 
been accidental, but which many conceived to be the 
result of design. The Metropolitan and a concourse of 
twenty or thirty priests, robed in rich vestments of crim- 
son thickly crossed with gold embroidery, and with 
mitres glittering with jewels and enamelled pictures, 
some bearing the sacred image, and others carrying wax 
lights, stationed themselves at the grand entrance to re- 
ceive the Imperial party. Everybody wore their richest 
clothing; all the ladies having long trains, all except the 
diplomatic ones having the kakoshnick brilliantly studded 
with diamonds or otherwise ornamented. The bride 
wore a superb diadem of diamonds, and on the very top 
of her head a crown of the same description. Her train 
was an immense one of crimson velvet, deeply bordered 
with ermine. Of the religious ceremonies I could under- 
stand nothing ; they were exceedingly tedious. There 
was an interchange of rings between the bride and groom, 
effected through the agency of the Metropolitan. They 
sipped the consecrated wine from the same golden gob- 
let, and during a part of the proceeding — for about 
twenty minutes, while the Metropolitan was reading 
to them — golden crowns were held above the heads of 



204 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

the couple, — over that of the Grand Duchess by her 
brother the Hereditary Grand Duke Alexander, and 
over that of the Prince by Count Pahlen. At one time 
the couple were led, with their hands united, by the 
Metropolitan, three times round the altar. At the close 
of the ceremony, the groom led his bride to the Em- 
peror, by whom he was directed to embrace her, and then 
followed the family felicitations and kissing. The Court 
choir performed the great Te Deum most effectively, and 
the cannon of the Fortress, aided by peals from all the 
huge bells of the innumerable churches, sent forth a 
deafening and yet exhilarating uproar. After kissing 
a number of the priests in succession, the Imperial cir- 
cle left the Greek Chapel and went to where a tempo- 
rary Roman Catholic Chapel had been constructed in 
some interior apartment, and the marriage ceremony was 
here performed again. We got home as expeditiously 
as we could at about four o'clock. 

At eight o'clock we repaired to the " Bal Pare" at the 
Palace, La Salle Blanche, an apartment of extraordinary 
magnificence, its one hundred and twelve Corinthian 
columns, and the balustrade above them, with its im- 
mense chandeliers, having, since we were last in it, been 
most richly gilt. Here, also, all the ladies wore trains. 
No dancing was executed but the polonaise ; there were 
no refreshments ; and the ceremony lasted only for 
about two hours, the fatigues of the day being too much 
for the strength of the Empress. Among the remarkable 
costumes seen on this occasion were those of the Sultan 
of Kirghis, with his retinue, come to make presents to 
the Emperor on the marriage of his daughter, and of a 
Queen of Georgia. The Marquis of Anglesea, too, and 
his son were interesting objects. 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 205 

1839. July 15. — We were bound to be at the Great 
Theatre " en gala" at eight o'clock. I was assigned by 
the Director a box in association with Count Rossi. 
The performance was a dull ballet, only relieved by 
one capital scene, representing a theatre crowded with 
spectators, before whom a danseuse was making her 
debut, while we were supposed to be behind the scenes. 
Nothing, however, could equal the brilliancy of the 
coup d'ceil presented when the whole audience rose to 
greet the entrance of the Imperial family into their box. 
The Grand Duchess Marie, as the bride, came in first, 
and was saluted with vociferous acclamations, then her 
husband, then the Empress, and, lastly, the Emperor. 

I noticed yesterday during the wedding ceremonial an 
air of abstraction or preoccupation in his Majesty, and I 
find it to have been caused by the arrival of news of the 
death of the Sultan Mahmoud, who has by will directed 
his son, only eighteen years of age, to be under the 
guardianship of one of his sons-in-law until he attains 
twenty-five, and who directed the other son-in-law to be 
forthwith strangled. Nicholas seemed to-night to have 
in a measure recovered his spirits. 

1839. J u ty *6- — Escorted Mrs. Dallas, at two o'clock, 
to the Palace, where the Grand Duchess Marie received 
the congratulations of the ladies of the Diplomatic Corps, 
and subsequently those of the gentlemen. The Duke of 
Leuchtenberg accompanied her. We were also received 
by the Hereditary Grand Duke, whose travels during the 
last fifteen months have greatly improved his appearance 
and manners. He is stouter, readier, and more manly. 
He expressed great regret at our intended departure. 
At this presentation, the Marquis of Anglesea walked 
up to me, and said that he could no longer wait for 



206 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

an introduction, that he must introduce himself; and he 
went on to express his warm gratitude for the kind at- 
tentions which his son, a naval officer, whom he called 
up, had experienced on his late visit to the United 
States, hoping that I would be particular in mention- 
ing to the President, whom he had personally known in 
England, his sense of his civilities. His son united in 
these sentiments, adding that the two months he had 
spent in America had been the happiest of his life. 
The Marquis is a striking figure, with white and sparse 
hair, erect in carriage, always in hussar uniform, and 
having a false leg so well made and fitted that, while he 
is stationary, the defect is imperceptible. He told me he 
was seventy-one, after I had guessed sixty-two. 

At eight o'clock in the evening, we again returned 
to the Palace to a ball. It was crowded. The Em- 
press and Grand Duchess Helen strongly expressed 
their regret at our departure, the latter with apparent 
and most attractive sincerity. During the evening I 
beat an Admiral four successive games of chess. 

iS^g. July iy. — Went, engrandetenue, at eleven o'clock, 
to the new Admiralty, and witnessed the launch of the 
120-gun ship, the Russia. The spectacle was very im- 
posing, — the Empress on the water in her brilliant 
steamer, the Emperor and Grand Dukes in barges of 
twelve oars with flags flying, and a number of gig-brigs 
saluting. Count Woronzow, of Odessa, told me that the 
Warsaw was the largest vessel in the Russian navy. 

1839. July 18. — Fete at the Palace of the Grand Duke 
Michel ; though not so vast, more finished, elegant, 
and tasty than those heretofore witnessed, — a fountain 
in the ballroom, playing about twelve feet high, and 
falling into a basin crowded with flowers and golden 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 20/ 

fish; a balcony of great extent, hung with varied- 
coloured lamps, carpeted with crimson cloth, command- 
ing a most beautiful lawn and distant prospect, and 
regaled by a noble band of music stationed under the 
trees. The supper was admirable, and the Grand 
Duchess Helen went round to her guests with unusual 
spirit and grace. The Empress broke away suddenly 
from the head of the table, and left the room ; the Em- 
peror scampered after her. The heat was intense. 

1839. July 21. — Count Nesselrode, at the Prince of 
Oldenburg's last night, informed me that the Emperor 
would give me an audience-of-leave on Tuesday next 
at Peterhoff. Mrs. Dallas and her daughters and myself 
would take leave of the Empress at the same hour. 

1839. July 23. — Started for Peterhoff at about six a.m. 
Soon after arriving, a written notification was circulated 
from Count Ficquelmont, purporting that the Austrian 
Archduke Albert would receive the Diplomatic Corps, 
at apartments assigned for him about five versts off, at 
one o'clock. I went with Mr. Chew. The ugly Prince 
improved in my estimation by the ease and intelligence 
of his manners. A handsome lunch was prepared for 
us, and we dined en grande tenue at about four o'clock. 
During our dinner, a tremendous storm of rain, thunder, 
and lightning arose, the effects of which were dreadful 
upon the bay, crowded as it was with all sorts of vessels 
in anticipation of the fetes of the evening. Several ves- 
sels sunk, and many sail-boats were upset; some hun- 
dreds of lives were lost. We concluded that the great 
illuminations were marred. They were at first counter- 
ordered or postponed by the Emperor ; but, upon the 
gust clearing off, fresh notice was given. I had driven 
with Julia, in a court droschky, round the grounds, and 



208 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

witnessed the immense preparations made. As soon as 
our dinner was over, we began our arrangements for the 
" bal masque," appointed for seven o'clock ; and, the 
court equipage drawing up at the hour, the company, 
having first refreshed themselves with an excellent cup 
of tea, proceeded to the Great Palace, headed by the 
Master of Ceremonies. Immediately upon my getting 
through the vast throng which impeded all the avenues, 
Count Woronzow apprised me that the Emperor was in 
his Cabinet to grant me an audience-of-leave. I shall 
ever remember this conference with pride and delight. 
It convinced me I had not lived in Russia without doing 
public service and achieving the reputation I desire. 

The Emperor was cordial, kind, and full of feeling. 
He first addressed me, after we had shaken hands, upon 
my personal motives for returning to the United States. 
" At the moment," he said, " when we all have learned 
to appreciate you and your family, and when my whole 
court, without exception, are cherishing the best dis- 
positions for you." I answered with the undisguised 
frankness due to such an inquiry from such a man; 
told him that my private affairs, the education of my 
children, and my limited resources compelled me to quit 
him, and that I felt deep regret at a necessity which I 
could not control. He again seized me by the hand, 
and assured me that he heard it with sincere pain and 
sorrow, and hoped that, if ever fortune should improve 
my ability, I might again visit Russia, and desired me 
to be sure of a hearty welcome. I told him that I de- 
rived some consolation in the reflection that I left him 
" au comble du bonheur;" that I could distinctly per- 
ceive in the happy marriage of his daughter a source to 
him of unbounded and unalloyed gratification, and that 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 200. 

all I had had the happiness to see and hear of the Prince 
of Leuchtenberg satisfied me that his confidence was well 
founded. He received this remark with apparent delight, 
and grasped my hand anew and said, " I believe him to 
be an admirable young man, worthy of everything I am 
doing for him, and that he will make my child perfectly 
happy. You are right in thinking me at this moment 
as happy as a father can be." I then indulged in the 
trite reflection that the period of attaining such content- 
ment was the one at which philosophy told us we should, 
in this unstable world, be most prepared against change 
and adversity. This thought seemed congenial to his 
mind : his countenance varied its expression from joy 
to melancholy, and he replied, giving it at once a 
special direction, " Yes, the ill health of my wife gives 
me much anxiety. I cannot persuade her to omit any- 
thing she deems a duty, and to refrain from exposure or 
fatigue. She becomes daily more feeble ; and now, she 
insists upon going through the distractions of this fete, 
its intense and crowded heats and all its labours, as if 
her health were perfect." He then recurred to our 
political relations ; was happy to know that between 
him and the United States there could exist no senti- 
ments but those of the most friendly character, and 
hoped that I went away under the same impression. I 
told him that my attention to the subject had produced 
a conviction that our highest interests as a nation were 
identified with those of Russia. " Not only are our in- 
terests alike," said he, " but (with emphasis in his tone) 
our enemies are the same." We recurred freely to the 
fact that the political institutions of the two countries 
were radically and essentially different; "but," he re- 
marked, "they tend in each to the happiness and pros- 

19 



210 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

perity of their respective inhabitants; and I am engaged 
in introducing some liberal ameliorations, particularly in 
the department for the administration of justice, which 
I hope will be attended by most salutary effects." I 
commented upon the necessity, however, of his having 
an eye to everything, and he said, that, under the cir- 
cumstances of Russia, was a vital duty. 

I handed him my letter of recall, which, he observed, 
he very reluctantly received, and he laid it on his desk 
without breaking the seal. We again shook hands, and 
I left him. Count Woronzow met me, in great haste, 
saying that the Empress was waiting to receive me. 
Mrs. Dallas and my two daughters had just taken leave 
of her. There was obvious impatience all round to 
commence the ceremonies or gayeties peculiar to the 
evening, and I went through as rapidly as was consistent 
with respect. 

I then put off my sword, and put on my Venetian or 
domino, and entered the bal masque. A more absolute 
jam of human beings, of all sorts, conditions, grades, 
forms, physiognomies, gaits, costumes, and tongues, can- 
not be conceived. The heat in the halls was intense. The 
polonaise immediately began, led off by the Sovereigns, 
before whom, as they advanced, turning in every zigzag 
direction, the compact mass gave way and opened an 
avenue for the brilliant train of courtiers, officers, and 
fashionables, almost as if by magic. On one occasion, 
as the glorious file came forward, I found myself screwed 
tight and motionless between two Kirghese Khans, some 
Chinese, and one or more Russian serfs, but, falling back 
resolutely, I caught the eye of the Emperor, who saw my 
predicament and effort, and exclaimed aloud in clear 
English,"! beg your pardon, sir!" to which I had no 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 211 

time for replying except by a bow of the head and a 
smile. Shortly afterwards, I perceived him approach 
Mrs. Dallas, and, with the polite inquiry, " Oserais-je vous 
demander pour une polonaise ?" lead her, repeatedly, by 
the hand through the apartments. He congratulated 
her upon her intended visit to Paris ; said it was a mag- 
nificent capital, and that many years ago he had attended 
one of the most beautiful balls given there : and he 
repeated to her the regret he felt to part with us. 

A splendid supper was served apart from the crowd 
at about nine o'clock, and the chamberlains having ar- 
ranged the parties which were to occupy the several 
lignes classified numerically, each carrying eight persons, 
and the number being about thirty, destined for the 
principal persons of the Court, we left the table, and 
hurried, amid some confusion and mud and wet, to the 
equipages. Ours was No. 3, superintended by Count 
and Countess Borke. All being comfortably seated, 
the Czar and Czarina, in the van, gave the order to pro- 
ceed, and off we went for a drive of an hour through all 
the labyrinths of illumination and amid the finest displays 
of water-works I ever beheld. The scene was as won- 
derful as any of the creations of Aladdin's wonderful 
lamp. There could not have been less than five hundred 
thousand lights, arranged in every possible form, creating 
a bright day, shining in reflection from the beautiful 
lakes, and glistening behind cascades, extending into 
dazzling alleys of a quarter of a mile in length, forming 
obelisks of vast heights, or spanning in arches the rivu- 
lets which intersected the walks. The great " Jet d'Eau," 
the Samson or Hercules, with countless others in all di- 
rections, sparkled and rumbled most musically, while a 
host of festive frolickers, estimated by Count Borke at two 



212 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

hundred thousand, opened into avenues, as the cavalcade 
advanced, in front of the tents which were pitched for 
their enjoyment and accommodation within the open 
spaces of the gardens. Fine bands struck up at certain 
distances from each other; and in one of the widest and 
longest alleys of glowing fire, the court cortege, in order, 
as it were, to heighten their pleasure by seeing and saluting 
each other, turned round and passed repeatedly. It is, 
however, impossible adequately to describe the details or 
wonders of this extraordinary spectacle. To me and 
mine it was perfect enchantment, realizing and surpassing 
all we had read or anticipated. 

We drove to our quarters about one in the morning, 
and, bent upon achieving our regulated plan, we hastily 
changed to our travelling dresses, packed up our finery, 
bade adieu to our friends, among whom we must ever 
affectionately remember the Barantes, the Hohenlohes, 
the Buteras, the Rossis, etc., and pushed forward for St. 
Petersburg. Here, however, began a fresh and exhaust- 
less source of surprise and amusement. The entire road 
from Peterhoffto the capital was crowded with vehicles 
of every possible kind, forming three, and sometimes 
four, lines, and occasionally coming to a dead stand- 
still. The droschky, the kibitka, the telega, the omni- 
bus, the caleche, the carriage, the huge diligence were 
all in succession before us, and apparently without end, 
crowded by men, women, and children, in all sorts of 
motley wear, and with all the ludicrous appearances which 
follow fatigue after frolic. We laughed especially and 
heartily at the infinite variety of dozing, nodding, and 
drunken drivers. As our chasseur was on the box, our 
coachman found his way with ease and safety. We got 
home at four o'clock, pretty considerably exhausted, but 



AT THE COURT OF THE CZAR. 213 

unwilling to retire or lie down until a finishing hand was 
put to packing trunks and boxes for the departure at 
noon. The astonishing, brilliant, and interesting scene 
of the last twenty-four hours constitute a subject for 
much reflection and permanent delight. 

1839. July 24. — We embarked in the steamer for Cron- 
stadt, from the English Quay, at two o'clock. 

HOME'S BEFORE US. 

Away ! away ! from swelling hearts 

Our thoughts flit o'er the main ; 
Away ! away ! love fleetly darts 

Back to its nest again : 
Exulting voices hymn in chorus, 
We're free to fly, and home's before us ! 



Unmoor the bark, expand the sail, 
Catch ere it droop the fav'ring gale. 
The sun, himself in search of rest, 
Now lights our pathway to the west. 
Shake off the dust of foreign strand, 
And bound we to our native land. 
In vain to stay new friends implore us : 
We're free to fly, and home's before us ! 



We've voyag'd through 
The ocean blue ; 
Our steps have trod 
On varied sod, 

And novel skies have glitter'd o'er us. 
Tho' shone the sea 
Sublime and free, 
Tho' Briton's Isle 
Could charm awhile, 
And Russ and Dane 
Wove friendship's chain, — 
Away ! away ! 
Love rules the day ; 

We're free to fly, and home's before us ! 
19* 



214 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

But see ! within our track advance 
The sparkling lures of lovely France. 
'Mid Europe's beauties, shall we fail to call 
On her confess'd the siren of them all ? 
A wreath of glory girds her hair ; 

Her eagle glance high lore discloses ; 
With melody she fills the air, 

And floats a grace o'er clouds of roses. 
Sure we may pause, ere yet we speed along, 
To taste her wisdom, fancy, fame, and song. 
Think of her Opera and Institute, 

Her " Chateau" and " Palais," 
Her Fanny Elssler and her Marshal Soult, 

Her Guizot and Molt ; 
Think of her Grand Hotel des Invalides, 

Her " Boulogne''' and " Boulevards" 
Of dead Napoleon and his living deeds, 
Of " Champs" and " Ma'm'selle Mars;" 
Think of her " Fire- la- Chaise" and " Chambre des Fairs," 

Her " Grist" and " Cuisine," 
Her " Trois Glorieux" and glorious Thiers, 

" La Morgue" and Lamartine ; 
Think of her deep Catacombs, so solemn ! 

Her " Mardi Gras" and " Bceuf," 
''Immortelles" fading on the column, 

" Old Henri" on " Pont-neuf !" 
Think of " les Jardins" (though their flowers be few) 

Crammed with savage creatures, 
" Les Barricades" and Louis Philippe, who 

Courted Abby Peters. 
Think on this galaxy ! then think again, 
Last, though not least, on truffles and champagne ! 



Away ! away ! Affection fond 

These bright attractions looks beyond, 

And sees beneath our parent skies 

Love's outstretched arms and wooing eyes, 

And hears soft accents in the air 

Bidding us haste for rapture there. 

To them ! to them, may Heaven restore us ! 

We're free to fly, and home's before us ! 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 
18^7—1861. 



215 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 



1857. December 3. — The opening of Parliament by the 
Queen in person was altogether a handsome and sugges- 
tive ceremony. Here in a vast and rich hall was in fact 
concentrated the great British empire, — royalty, princes, 
peers, nobles, bishops, law-judges, and commons. Her 
Majesty wore a crown of brilliants, and jewels sparkled 
over her person. Her principal garment was a dazzling 
skirt of striped golden stuff, and she removed from her 
shoulders a heavy cloak of crimson velvet bordered 
with ermine. She was preceded into the House of 
Lords by a' number of high officers, who bowed to the 
yet vacant throne as they passed it. She was handed 
up to the throne by the Prince Consort. On her imme- 
diate right stood Lord Winchester, bearing at the end 
of a gold stick a large red velvet cap, termed the cap of 
maintenance ; on her immediate left was Earl Granville, 
holding with fixed solemnity of manner the huge and 
decorated sword of state. The Lord High Chancellor, 
Cranworth, was next to Lord Winchester, and held in his 
hand the address, which he subsequently handed to the 
Queen to read. Lord Lansdowne carried a crown upon 
a cushion. The Princess Royal and the Princess Mary, 
of Cambridge, seated themselves in front on the wool- 
sack with their faces to the Queen. The chamber was 
full of elegantly dressed ladies, but there was not a 
crowd of peers. The address was read as soon as the 

217 



2l8 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Commons with their Speaker appeared at the bar, and 
silence had succeeded their obstreperous entry. It was 
well read, though certainly the Queen manifested a 
slight and attractive agitation. There was much to 
gratify in the whole performance ; but it seemed to me 
that its chief charm arose from its being headed by an 
exemplary lady not yet old enough to have lost grace 
and beauty. Her husband occupied what might be 
regarded as a secondary throne on her left beyond Earl 
Granville. She read the address sitting. Almost im- 
mediately on closing, she rose, and the Prince Consort 
led her out, both bowing to the audience. Prince of 
Wales not present, Prince William of Prussia was. 

I went to the House of Commons at four. Various 
notices of motions. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir 
G. C. Lewis, one of a bill to indemnify the Bank. Lord 
John Russell, one to abolish Jewish disabilities. The 
Queen's address read by the Speaker. Disraeli spoke 
against the Ministers with ardour, force, and length, on 
the three topics of Bank, India, and Reform. He was 
briefly and good-humouredly answered by Lord Pal- 
merston. 

1857. December 4. — The launch of the Leviathan is 
still slowly but safely progressing. She has yet to 
move down two hundred and fifty feet, and must do so 
without farther material interruption, or the high tides 
may fail her. Sent a crowded bag for the Canada to- 
morrow. 

1857. December 5. — Weather unusually bright and 
balmy. 

The American papers mention the death of General 
Hamilton, of South Carolina, by drowning, in conse- 
quence of a collision of steamboats on the Mississippi. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 219 

I knew him well ; a brave and honourable as well as 
courteous gentleman. 

Mr. Bright, by a printed letter, postpones his appear- 
ance in the House of Commons until after the holidays. 
He is timid on the score of his recovery, and hesitates 
lest his mind may not be as strong as the business of 
the session may require. His words to me on the sub- 
ject, some weeks ago, were quite sad. 

We had a domestic alarm during last night; several 
men, between one and two, were heard walking and 
speaking upon the roof of the house. On inquiring this 
morning, we find it was a party of police in chase of 
two burglars, whom they had followed over the tops of 
a long range of houses. The rascals unaccountably 
escaped. Lord Macaulay took the oath as a Peer in the 
House of Lords on the evening of Thursday last, the 
3d instant. 

1857. December 6. — The Court has gone to Osborne 
for a fortnight. The strength of the Ministry is obviously 
irresistible. Everything shows the utter weakness of 
the opposition. The two leaders — Lord Derby, in the 
upper, and Mr. Disraeli, in the lower, house — abstained 
from their usual Parliamentary dinners on the opening 
of the session. No real resistance to the address. The 
relaxation allowed to the Bank and the bill to indemnify 
scarcely controverted. There may, however, spring up 
a breeze on Lord Palmerston's bill of Reform. On this 
point the newspapers are loud and firm. 

On being presented to the Queen, seated on her 
throne and wearing her crown, the Siamese Ambassa- 
dors and their suite crawled from the door to Her 
Majesty's feet upon their hands and knees ! Among 
their royal presents was a spittoon ! 



iS;- -. — The Great Eastern, or Leviathan, 

>wly, and has two-thirds of her way to make 

yet before she can Bo 

Tlu Russia is .need his 

army by thrc. md two hundred thou- 

d men. 

1857 8. — An impenetrable fog all day, 

through which the curbstone was invisible. 

The - announce a short telegram from India 

g serious danger at Lucknow, and reporting 

Outram as wounded. My friend, Sir C 

>bell, has st Cawnpore to supervise the 

- 6r the relief oi Lucknow. Last evening. 

srston, cheering, presented a mes- 

■ the Que - ng a grant of one thousand 

. -an um Fo 

Have i\ gh Raikes's "Journal" of four 

volumes. Many bon-mots are preserved, very strange 

a the whole it 

dull book, written by a thorough-starched Tory. 

Mr. Henry Middleton and his nephew sat an hour 

with us. the latter on his way to the United The 

former broke out furiously against Lou a as a 

murderer, fool, and madman. 

iS;~ II. — Parliament has discussed and 

matured in both houses a bill gran: thousand 

pounds for 1. 1 neral Havelock. The grant was, 

however, assailed by numerous speakers as inadequate, 
and several wanted it extended to the life of his 

e of the news think he should be created a 

Peer, and be given a handsome fortune to keep up its 

dignity. SirChark s Naj that he was poor and 

. upon his pay. All the recent news depicts his 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 221 

situation at Lucknow as extremely critical, — surrounded 
by a hostile army of seventy thousand men with three 
hundred guns, and short of food. 

The last effort on the Leviathan moved her forward 
but thirteen inches. The great difficulty is in getting a 
sufficiently firm hold in the river; heavy anchors have 
proved ineffective, and piles are now driving. A Gen- 
eral Van Omphal has been sent here from Holland to 
ask the hand of Princess Alice for the Prince of Orange. 
She is about fifteen years of age. 

1857. December 12. — An interesting statement of all 
the railroads in operation on the 1st of January, 1856, 
appears in the "Journal des Chemins de Fer." America 
has nearly one-half of the whole, at less than one-fourth 
the cost ! 

1857. December 17. — I expected to meet a large party 
at Count Bernstorf s last night. There were not twenty 
persons present. The Countess had prepared for a 
numerous reception, and was somewhat put out. 

Poor Brunei ! his labours to launch the Leviathan are 
being terribly criticised. The Times deprecates and 
despairs of the whole thing. Professor Alexander says 
that the miscalculations as to the force necessary have 
been gross and unpardonable. The huge mass seems 
now beyond the mechanical powers which can be ap- 
plied. There was this morning a succession of chain 
snapping and ram breaking without the least effect upon 
the ponderous ship. The expense of these efforts is 
estimated to exceed five hundred thousand dollars ! 

We were told last evening that the approaching royal 
wedding would take place in St. James's Palace, and that 
the foreign Ministers would probably not be invited, 
except the Ambassadors. Hope this may be true. The 



222 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Prussian Minister said that the marriage contract was 
completed and signed only yesterday ; and he congratu- 
lated himself at having closed the elaborate job. 

The trial of Countess Jeufosse and her two sons for 
the murder of one Guillot, who was endeavouring to 
seduce first her gonvernante and then her daughter, is 
proceeding at Evreux, in France, and exciting much in- 
terest. The proceedings are daily translated and for- 
warded to the London newspapers. It is clear, however, 
that a " peppering," and not killing, was intended by the 
shooting. 

1857. December 18. — Went to Viscountess Palmer- 
ston's first reception this winter. Most of the Diplomatic 
Corps attended. Had a long and lively talk with Lord 
Palmerston, whose first question was, " When may the 
President's message be expected ?" Lady William Rus- 
sell and her son, the new member of Parliament, recently 
returned from the United States, were present. Con- 
versed for some time with Musurus, the Turkish Ambas- 
sador, who said that he had urged his brother, formerly 
representative of the Sultan at Turin, to go as Minister 
to Washington. The Principalities were discussed ; and 
he was bitter against the policy of Russia to effect a 
union with a new sovereign. He represented the popu- 
lation of both Moldavia and Wallachia combined to be 
about four millions and a half. He descanted largely 
upon the uniform kindness and toleration of the Porte 
in the government of these provinces. 

Mrs. Norton was present, and fast showing the ravages 
of time, though still a fine-looking woman. She joined 
me in praises of the Isle of Wight as a summer retreat. 

1857. December 19. — Dined with Lord Justice and Lady 
Turner, — a company of twenty. He amused me with an 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 223 

endless repetition of anecdotes about the Duke of Well- 
ington. Discussing reform, after dinner, I was appealed 
to for my opinion, and produced a little horror by say- 
ing that the distinctions often and twenty pound house- 
hold suffrage were only calculated to produce jealousies, 
feuds, and disturbance; and that practically nothing was 
more conservative than universal suffrage ! It was said 
between two members of Parliament — Roundell Palmer, 
one of them — that Lord Palmerston's bill would go as 
far as twenty pounds, but not farther. The educational 
constituency proposed in a letter signed by the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, Lord Fortescue, Lord Eversly, 
and many others, was pronounced an impracticable fancy. 
As a proposal to create a new class and have it repre- 
sented in the Commons, it is analogous to other features 
of the vaunted British Constitution. 

The sketch of Berryer's speech on behalf of Countess 
Jeufosse, given in the newspaper of this afternoon, strikes 
me as exceedingly bold, fine, and effective. It was fol- 
lowed by exclamations, long protracted, of bravo ! bravo ! 
bravo ! from the crowd in the court-room. The trial has 
ended in a verdict of "not guilty." 

1857. December 26. — Went to S to spend Christmas. 

This among the scandals detailed there. When Count de 
M announced his intention to marry in St. Peters- 
burg, the Countess, with whom he had lived for a num- 
ber of years, sent for her son, about nineteen, and said 

to him, "You must revenge my wrongs. De M is 

not, as has been supposed, your father, and you must 
fight him. Your father was Baron -." "Ah!" ex- 
claimed the youngster, " you destroy all my happiness. 
I fondly believed myself the son of the Duke de — — !" 

Sir Colin Campbell, after several severe battles, has 



224 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

finally relieved the garrison at Lucknow, and sent the 
women and wounded to Cawnpore. He has been slightly 
wounded. 

The royal wedding is assigned for the 25th of January. 

1858. January 7. — News from India to-day states that 
General Havelock died of dysentery on the 25th of No- 
vember last. He was born in 1795, and first went to 
India in 1823. General Wyndham had been defeated by 
the Gwalior contingent, who, in turn, were completely 
routed by Sir Colin Campbell. 

The celebrated Rachel died very recently at Cannes, 
in France, a confirmed Jewess. She has left her son two 
millions of francs. She is to be buried in the Hebrew 
cemetery in Paris. As conclusive proof of her wonderful 
popularity, it is stated that, during the seventeen years 
which elapsed between 1838 and 1855, the Theatre Fran- 
c,ais reaped from the nights of her performance the sum 
of four million three hundred and ninety-four thousand 
two hundred and thirty-one francs, which is at an average 
rate of two hundred and fifty-two thousand six hundred 
and two francs per annum. 

Alexander, the present Emperor, is taking measures 
to ameliorate and elevate the condition of the Russian 
serfs. This was attempted by his father while I was 
Minister at his court. Let the son take heed that his 
nobles do not compel him, as they did Nicholas, to 
recant. 

There is a difference in stating the age at which Mar- 
shal Radetzky died in Milan on the 5th inst. Some 
say ninety-two, and this is the general representation ; 
others say eighty-nine. If ninety-two, he was born ten 
years before the Declaration of Independence. He is 
said to have commenced his career as a soldier in 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 225 

1781. What a life, and what a period of the world to 
have witnessed ! Seventy-seven years of continuous and 
wonderful progress and revolution in almost every Euro- 
pean nation ! 

The Leviathan "festinat lentissime !" the ground be- 
neath shows symptoms of being less solid. 

A curious question arises as to the Baronetcy re- 
cently conferred upon Sir Henry Havelock. Its patent 
bears date the 26th November, 1857; he died on the 
25th, the day before. One would say that it lapsed, 
and was abortive ; and yet the universal desire that his 
son should inherit the title may be made to prevail. 
The loss of Havelock is compared to that of Nelson or 
Wellington. 

Vernon Smith, President of Board of Control, while 
hunting the other day, was thrown from his horse, and 
broke his collar-bone. So the Duke of Newcastle dis- 
located his shoulder. About twenty such accidents to 
equestrians have occurred during the short time I have 
been here. They seem to me owing to the awkward 
and unsafe seats English riders take, — short stirrups, 
knees bent, head leaning forward, and arms akimbo. A 
sudden shy, halt, or start, and away they go over the 
horse's head. They have no hold on the animal by 
compression of the knees. 

1858. January 13. — Julia and I walked to the National 
Gallery that we might take a long look at the great pic- 
ture of Paul Veronese, " The Family of Darius in Sup- 
plication before Alexander," and at the Turner, placed 
with an audacious design to compare, between two 
Claudes. This collection is injured by a crowd of 
paintings on Scriptural subjects alike indecent and 
shocking. The history and curiosity of the art may 

so* 



226 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

excuse the accumulation, but their public exhibition is 
without apology. 

1858. January 14. — An effort to assassinate Louis 
Napoleon has again failed. On arriving, at about eight 
o'clock this evening, at the door of the Opera House, 
with the Empress, and as they were entering, several 
shells exploded, killing three or more persons, wound- 
ing many, and crushing the Emperor's hat without 
injuring him. He was vehemently cheered by the 
audience, remained to the close of the performance, 
received the plaudits of the people on the street, and 
hurried to receive the congratulations on his safety by 
the public functionaries and diplomatic body collected 
at the Tuileries. No man understands better how to 
turn to account the follies and failures of his enemies. 
Every abortive attempt at assassination strengthens the 
position of the man against whom it is directed. Yet 
this apparently vigorous and well-planned act attests 
the existence of inflexible hostility to his usurpation 
among conspirators capable of great art in eluding the 
police and great daring in exploit. He would seem, 
like Macbeth, to "bear a charmed life," for it is won- 
derful that neither he nor his Empress was wounded. 
Energetic efforts at detecting the criminals were imme- 
diately set on foot. Many arrests were made out of the 
crowd, but as yet no one seized on whom guilt could be 
fastened. Is an Imperial crown, even that of France, 
compensation for the protracted and augmenting torture 
of a life exposed to such assaults ? 

1858. January 17. — The circumstances of the attempt 
to assassinate the Emperor indicate great daring, reck- 
less cruelty, and a supreme indifference about taking 
French lives, whether of men or women. It is essen- 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 22 J 

tially Italian. Colonels Picrri and Orsini (the names 
may be assumed ones) appear the principals. The shells 
or grenades were thrown from the upper windows of a 
public house opposite the Opera door, were encased in 
glass and exploded in striking, one falling on the top of 
the carriage and another on the pave. Particles of the 
glass have left slight cuts on the noses of Emperor and 
Empress. Many bystanders and guards and opera em- 
ployes were wounded, and some few persons have died 
of their injuries. The Empress is reported to have ex- 
claimed, in firm tones, " Let us show these scoundrels 
how much braver we are than they !" Did she read 
disquietude in Napoleon's colour? N'importe! Both 
behaved admirably, and have seized the occasion to 
increase their popularity. 

It is generally given out and expected that we are to 
have an Ode or Epithalamium from Tennyson on the 
marriage of the Princess Royal. He is the only living 
English poet worth reading; and even he is very unequal 
in his flights. It is impossible not to look forward with 
hope of a high enjoyment when the pen of Locksley 
Hall, Morte d'Arthur, and Cardigan's Six Hundred is at 
work. 

A regular money-making, huckstering job is being 
made, in the Queen's name, a part of the coming festivi- 
ties. Her Majesty's Theatre is to be opened to enable 
her guests to witness some fine performances, selected by 
herself; but then the tickets of admission are only to be 
had by those who give the highest bid for them ! 

1858. January 19. — The first of the festivities incident 
to the approaching wedding took place last night. It 
was a sort of private dancing-party, given by the Queen 
for the enjoyment of her numerous guests. We were 



228 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

bidden, and went. There was an especial throng of Ger- 
man Princes and Princesses, whose look and deportment 
are singularly different from anything English. Their 
long necks, small heads, and grave faces with light com- 
plexions, are peculiar and unattractive. The ladies among 
them had an air of great refinement and delicacy. All 
the Ministry, except, I think, Granville and Argyll, were 
present; and I had long talks with Palmerston, Clanri- 
carde, and Talbot Raines. Count Kreptovitch told me 
he would remain but two weeks, and had resolved to 
quit the career of diplomacy; he is obviously enraged 
and disgusted at some treatment he has been subjected 
to by the Russian Department of Foreign Affairs. Tal- 
bot Baines, a well-informed lawyer, informed me that 
they had a professorship of law at Cambridge, and had 
just adopted, upon the recommendation of a committee, 
as the manual for reading and instruction by the students, 
Wheaton's " International Law." This is a striking fact 
tor the scientific and literary honour of America. 

The Prince Consort received, just as I approached 
him, by the hands of a messenger, a long telegram, 
which, after exchanging a few words with me, he retired 
into the yet unopened supper-room to read. I was after- 
wards told that it was the address delivered by Louis 
Napoleon to the Council in the course of the day. 

The Duke of Devonshire, William Spencer Cavendish, 
who with such lavish expenditure of wealth represented 
this country as Ambassador at the coronation of the 
Czar Nicholas in 1826, died suddenly yesterday at Chats- 
worth. This will throw an immense family connection 
into mourning, — the Sutherlands, Portlands, Cliffords, 
Cavendishes, Granvilles, Argylls, Laboucheres, Carlisles, 
Bagots, etc. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 229 

Louis Napoleon's speech to the Senate and Legisla- 
tive body at the opening of the session yesterday, opens, 
in my opinion, a new epoch of French Imperial politics. 
It savours a good deal of a distilled or compressed Presi- 
dential message. It is bold, explanatory, and philosophi- 
cal. His attitude and purposes are unequivocally stated. 
Clearly he intimates himself to be the French Augustus 
Caesar. Let me preserve here a few of his sentences 
that I think will tell effectively : 

" On a souvent pretendu que pour gouverner la 
France, il fallait sans cesse donner comme aliment a 
l'esprit public quelque grand incident theatral. Je crois, 
au contraire, qu'il suffit de chercher exclitsivcmcnt a /aire 
le bien pour meriter la confiance du pays." 

" II n'y a que les causes bien defiuies, nettement for- 
mulees, qui creent des convictions profondes ; il n'y a que 
les drapeaux hautement deployes qui inspirent des devoue- 
mens sinceres." 

" Ne l'oublions pas, la marche de tout pouvoir nouveau 
est longtemps une lutte. D'ailleurs il est une verite 
ecrite a chaque page de l'histoire de la France et de 
l'Angleterre, c'est qu'une libcrte sans entrave est impossible 
tant qu'il existe dans un pays line fraction obstince a mecon- 
naitrc les bases fondamentales dn gouvernement." 

" Le danger, quoi qu'on dise, n'est pas dans les preroga- 
tives excessives dn pouvoir, mais plutot dans V absence de 
lois rtpressives." 

" La pacification des esprits devant etre le but constant 
de nos efforts, vous m'aiderez a rechercher les moyens de 
reduire au silence les oppositions extremes et factieuses." 

" Jamais un assassinat, vint-il a reussir, n'a servi la 
cause de ceux qui avaient arme le bras des assassins; ni 
le parti qui frappa Cesar, ni celui qui frappa Henri IV., 



23O DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

ne profiterent de leur meurtre. Dicit permet quelquefois 
la mort du juste, mais il ne permet jamais le trio mp he de 
la cause du crime/" (this from the perjured author of the 
coup d'etat of 1852). 

What a criminal code, and what a system of espio- 
nage does this address foreshadow ! All efforts are 
now to be bent to prevent opposition, to silence attack, 
and to consolidate the tyranny of the Empire. If France 
submit, she will deserve her fate. 

The papers of to-day contain the congratulatory ad- 
dresses of the legislative bodies to the Emperor on his 
escape. They all chime in an effort to create feeling 
against this country as the resort and sanctuary of 
refugee conspirators and plotting assassins. De Morny 
uses fierce language, importing that the Emperor should 
compel England, and indeed every other European 
country, to banish the miscreants whose only aim is 
against the very symbol of universal order, — Louis 
Napoleon. 

Sir Edward Cust told me last night that he is finish- 
ing a work which he calls " Annals of the Wars of the 
Eighteenth Century ;" that it will, of course, embrace 
our Revolutionary War, and that, as soon as he has 
finished that portion of it, he will send me a copy, with 
a view, if I do not disapprove it, to have it noticed by 
our Government. He says he can find nothing which 
entitles Lafayette to military fame, but that Washington 
was unquestionably a great general. 

1858. January 21. — The Queen's ball last night was 
not so inconveniently crowded as usual. The King of 
the Belgians and the Prince of Prussia were present, 
and the odor of Germany was paramount. The celebrity 
most interesting to me was Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 23 1 

and I had myself introduced. His countenance is stern 
and impressive, so strongly indeed as to be very at- 
tractive. 

1858. Jamtary 24. — The reception of the German 
royalties at the Prussian legation last night was crowded 
and brilliant. The impending bridegroom arrived from 
Berlin in the morning, and, with his father and mother, 
the Prince and Princess of Prussia, and some half-dozen 
others of the House of Brandenburg, with ladies sans 
nombre, graced the rooms. The chief members of the 
Ministry, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop of 
Oxford, the Duke of Cambridge, Sir William Williams, 
of Kars, and a reasonable seasoning of diplomats, were 
present. Conversed with the Archbishop, the twitchings 
of whose face are adverse to the impression which his 
high and venerable character would otherwise make. 
Talked, too, with Earl Stanhope, Sir W. Williams, and 
Lord Dufferin. This last said he was maturing a project 
for a trip in his yacht, to which he proposed applying 
steam, to the West Indies, and thence up the St. Law- 
rence to our Great Lakes, and through them as far as he 
can penetrate. His voyage to Iceland, very well narrated, 
has given him a taste for literary fame. He asserts him- 
self to be a connection of mine, probably through Sir 
Robert Dallas, the eminent Chief Justice of the Common 
Pleas. 

At the fullest swell of the tide, to-day, the bow of the 
Leviathan gave signs of yielding to its power. She will 
float from her cradle in a few days. 

1858. January 26. — Queen Victoria's eldest daughter, 
Victoria Adelaide, was yesterday married to Frederick 
William, Prince Royal of Prussia. The ceremony took 
place in the Chapel Royal at St. James's Palace, and in 



232 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

the presence of a comparatively small number of persons. 
The Diplomatic Corps were provided with places as 
advantageous and comfortable as the building afforded, 
in the gallery facing the altar. The Archbishop of 
Canterbury and the Bishop of London performed the 
service, the Bishop of Oxford and another being in the 
background, on the " haut pas." About three hundred 
people, all told, witnessed the proceeding, which was as 
brilliant and effective as such a spectacle could possibly 
be. All the appropriate royalties, appropriately dis- 
posed, and making appropriate movements at appropri- 
ate moments, executed their respective parts in the in- 
teresting show, to the general satisfaction. The entrance 
of the Queen surrounded by her brood of children, and 
apparently flurried with natural excitement, inspired the 
kindliest sympathy; the bridegroom's gallant and grace- 
ful kissing of the ring as he put it in the hands of the 
archbishop; the bride's beautiful group of eight attend- 
ants uniformly dressed in white, with their hair encircled 
by wreaths of pink roses ; the " abandon" of the em- 
braces and felicitations among the newly-created kin- 
dred atter the marriage was finished ; the joyous aspect 
of the couple as they left the chapel " man and wife ;" 
the rich and regulated music ; the excessive gorgeous- 
ness of the " toilettes" and uniforms, — all these striking 
features combined to give the entire proceeding a beauty 
and interest which I had not expected. 

A State concert at the great ballroom of Bucking- 
ham Palace took place in the evening. All the royalties 
again, and in the centre of the room, on chairs. Eight 
hundred persons in full costume. The diplomats on 
rising benches on the right of the royalties. An ad- 
mirable orchestra of about two hundred Clara Novello, 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 233 

Julia Pyne, Mrs. Anderson, Giulini, and Weiss, Jr., were 
the vocalists. Supper at one and bed at three a.m. 

The spontaneous illuminations in honor of the wed- 
ding were many and brilliant. I contented myself with 
a " Lone Star." 

A more utterly exhausting day rarely happens in the 
discharge of one's representative duty than was yester- 
day. 

During these festive performances the crowds collected 
in the streets were immense. The whole population of 
London seemed to have turned out. In going to Buck- 
ingham Palace at night, we were unable, after repeated 
trials down different streets, to penetrate the masses in 
Oxford Street until we had driven far west. Many 
dreadful casualties occurred from the pressure. 

The Belgian King, the Prince and Princess of Prussia, 
and their respective suites have taken leave to-day. The 
grand finale of this great uproar will be at the drawing- 
room on Saturday next, announced as an occasion for 
congratulating the married couple. 

1858. January 30. — Orsini's attempt at the life of Louis 
Napoleon has, among its consequences, awakened the 
jealousy of the two nations into crimination and recrim- 
ination. The French, in their official harangues and 
journals, fiercely assail England as the sanctuary and 
den of assassins. The Morning Post pleads guilty, and 
urges legislative measures to authorize the expulsion of 
refugees. Count Persigny has ventured to attack the 
want of law in this country, whereupon the Tunes charges 
him with neglect of his duty in not having warned the 
Emperor of the conspiracy, exposes his ignorance and 
misrepresentations, and firmly says he must explain or 
retract. In the meanwhile the Moniteur is publishing a 

21 



234 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

series of addresses from the regiments of the army in 
which vindictive and opprobrious allusions are made to 
England, and the Emperor is asked to send them to clear 
out this den of miscreants ! The question obviously is, 
to what amount of propitiatory enactment must John 
Bull crouch before the uplifted Imperial truncheon ? 

1858. January 31. — The Leviathan took to the stream 
safely to-day at half-past two o'clock. 

1858. February 2. — The newly- married royal couple, 
the Prince and Princess Frederick William of Prussia, 
left England to-day. They proceeded on quitting Buck- 
ingham Palace to Gravesend, and there embarked for 
Antwerp on board a yacht. 

It is announced that Louis Napoleon, not content 
with unusually repressive measures, has had presented to 
the French legislature to-day a law providing a regency 
should the Prince Imperial be called to the throne while 
yet a minor. This measure appears to me to have two 
aspects, — one of dynastic precaution, the other of personal 
fear. In the latter the father holds up his child as a 
shield against the conspirators who aim at his life only. 
Its consequence cannot fail to be, to involve in any plot 
to rid France of her usurper, the necessity of destroy- 
ing the son simultaneously with the father. Had the 
arrangement been secretly made, patriotic revolutionists 
would not have been warned of this necessity, and the 
infant might have been contemptuously spared. 

1858. February 5. — Parliament reassembled yesterday. 
The subject of amending the law in order to facilitate 
action against criminal refugees occupied for a time both 
Houses. Lord Palmerston, in the Commons, said he 
would offer a bill on Monday next. In the Lords, Lord 
Derby spoke at length ; so did Lord Granville. They 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 235 

agreed in their general views, insisting upon maintaining 
the great principle of punishing only those who were 
proved guilty, but admitting that if the law were defec- 
tive it should be amended. Lord Campbell vigorously 
asserted the adequacy of the law, and maintained the 
hospitality of England to the refugee. Lord Brougham 
was evidently for propitiating the French Emperor and 
people. 

I went to the Commons to-day. The Prime Minister 
moved that the whole House carry an address to the 
Queen congratulatory on the happy marriage of her 
daughter. Disraeli seconded ; unanimity. 

Mr. Roebuck spoke fiercely against Persigny, the ad- 
dresses of the French officers, and the adoption of their 
sentiments by the Emperor by permitting their publica- 
tion in the Moniteur. Louis Napoleon had thus insulted 
England. Lord Palmerston replied coarsely. 

Mr. dined with us. He had recently been at 

Paris, and amused us by a lively narrative of his getting 
to the door of the Opera House just after the attempt at 
assassination had been made. He might have been dread- 
fully involved, for his carriage was stopped by a military 
officer, to whom, as ignorant of the French language, he 
could make no explanation, and he had in his pocket at 
the time letters of introduction to Mazzini, Ledru Rollin, 
Louis Blanc, Victor Hugo, and others! 

1858. February 6. — We visited two exhibitions of art 
to-day; that of paintings at the British Institution was 
exceedingly pleasing. A picture of the interesting inci- 
dent at Lucknow, of a Scotch girl suddenly becoming 
wild with delight as her acute hearing detected the notes 
of the bagpipe and the tune of " The Campbells are 
Coming !" had a singular charm. The sculpture of 



236 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Petrich was not so attractive. His Tecumseh, and 
other Indian chiefs, in marble, are exaggerations. His 
reliefs, in a sort of terra-cotta, representing Indian war- 
dances, are good. 

Went to Lord Palmerston's in the evening. Was much 
gratified by several conversations, — with Count Krepto- 
vitch, who has ceased to be of the corps ; Admiral von 
Dorkum ; Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, who compared the 
absence of all monumental relics in India with the recent 
archaeological discoveries in the United States, and who 
thought that the great chance of retaining their Indian 
empire was founded upon the resistless superiority of 
civilized intellect over an almost incurable barbarism ; 
and with Lord Chief-Justice Campbell, who was particu- 
larly inquisitive as to whether, in the administration of 
the criminal law in America, we made any distinction 
between the citizen and the foreigner. 

1858. February 9. — Went to the House of Commons 
to hear the debate on the bill introduced by Lord Pal- 
merston, which may hereafter be known as the Refugee 
Bill, changing the criminal law by making the misdc- 
vieanor of conspiring to kill, in or out of England, pun- 
ishable by fine and imprisonment, a felony punishable 
with confinement at hard labour, and in some cases by 
transportation. The question was on the mere first 
reading. It was ably and eloquently opposed by War- 
ren ("Ten Thousand a Year"), by Lord John Russell, and 
by several others. Disraeli was flat and undetermined. 
It was carried by a majority exceeding two hundred. 

1858. February 10. — Went in the evening to two par- 
ties, — a crowded one of Milner Gibson's, and a dance of 
Sir Frederick Thesiger's. Talked to Lady Derby, with 
whom was her daughter, Lady Emma Stanley. Sir 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 237 

Francis Airey introduced himself to me. He has been 
presenting an American horse-tamer to the Queen, and 
knows the secret, but cannot account for the effect 
produced upon the animal. 

1858. February 11. — Dined with Lord Overstone ; 
about fifteen at table, — among them the political econ- 
omist McCulloch, Sir Henry Holland, and Captain 
Frazier, of the Guards. After dinner, competitive ex- 
aminations were discussed, and generally ridiculed. 
McCulloch said that at the Commissariat examinations, 
a standing question put to a candidate was. Where was 
Calvin born? This led to an enumeration of curious 
questions. Lord Overstone: What's the use of moun- 
tains ? Captain Frazier : How many fish were taken in 
the miraculous draught? McCulloch: What country 
was Christ from? Sir H. Holland remarked that the 
senior wranglers were given up at Oxford, because 
modern science overstrained and baffled the strongest 
faculties, 

On Lady Overstone's drawing-room centre-table was 
a perfect bijou under glass, cut in pure white marble, — an 
infant's plump, spread hand emerging as it were from a 
ruffle of pointed leaves, — by our Power. 

1858 February 12. — The House of Commons, when I 
reached there, were listening to Lord Palmerston's speech 
on his motion for leave to introduce a bill reorganizing 
the government of India. Its principle is simply the 
transfer of the Government from the Directors, Proprie- 
tors, and Board of Control to a Council appointed by the 
Crown, consisting of eight members and a President, who 
will be a member of the Cabinet, the name of the Queen 
to be hereafter employed instead of the Company's. I 
thought Lord Palmerston fell far short of the real mag- 



238 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

nitude of the occasion. He seemed little impressed with 
the idea that the extraordinary corporation he was about 
abolishing had begun as a few enterprising merchants, 
had gradually and peaceably acquired immense terri- 
torial possessions and power, and had annexed to the 
Crown of England a magnificent empire teeming with 
wealth of every description, and with a population six 
times as large as that of Great Britain. Mr. Thomas 
Baring followed against the bill in an admirable address, 
specially enforcing the unsuitableness of a period of pro- 
tracted rebellion for any change like the one proposed. 
The debate was adjourned, at the suggestion of Mr. 
Roebuck, to be resumed, I presume, on Monday next. 
The diplomatic box was crowded by Lords Monteagle, 
Derby, Grey, Ellenborough, etc., whose conversation 
across and with me indicated fixed opposition to the 
measure. 

I am reading Lord Normanby's " Year of Revolution 
in Paris." As far as I have yet gone in it, it is super- 
ficial, badly constructed, and vapid. During the revolu- 
tionary days, after Louis Philippe had abdicated, and 
while the Provisional Government, headed in part by 
Lamartine, were labouring to avert anarchy, his Lord- 
ship, personally much alarmed, very wisely trusted for 
safety to the Laws of Nations, and declined to be pro- 
tected by a corps of National Guards or an embodied 
company of two hundred Englishmen. This, if strictly 
true, does him great honour. 

I am making arrangements to-day for nabbing, as soon 
as they arrive in the United States, some three hundred 
or four hundred Mormons on their way, with arms and 
ammunition, to join Brigham Young. 

1858. February 14. — The crowd at Lord Palmerston's 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 239 

last night was greatanddull. There had been a state dinner 
at the Speaker's, and all the members of Government came 
to the Premier's in full ornamental dress. The Chancellor 
of the Exchequer asked me how he could obtain informa- 
tion as to our recent panic in the United States ; its cause, 
whether excess of credit generally or excess of bank 
issues, and its effect upon the price of gold and silver. I 
told him how to go about it. He said he would author- 
ize Lord Napier to expend two hundred to three hun- 
dred pounds in procuring for him a full and accurate 
view of the subject. Countess Persigny was there with- 
out her husband, the Ambassador. He is said to be in 
Paris, either because he expected to be made Minister of 
the Interior, in Billault's place, or because he is preparing 
to give way to Count Walewski, who has made the Court 
of St. James rather unpleasant to him, or, finally, because 
he wishes to go through the preliminary steps of being 
in form made a member of the Council of State newly 
created. 

A criminal trial for libel is about to come off in 
Brabant. It springs out of a rather fierce notice taken 
in a paper, called the Drapeau, of the attempt to assas- 
sinate Louis Napoleon on the 14th inst. The libellous 
article alleged : " For our part, we know of no attempt 
more terrible, more execrable, than the one which was 
committed successfully on the night of the 2d of De- 
cember, 185 1, against the liberty and life of the French 
people. Yes, it is a frightful thing to think that at the 
present day a people, in order to get back its liberty, 
stolen from it by highway robbery, should be reduced to 
the last mode, — that of assassinating a man. But what 
is more frightful than to have seen a people morally and 
materially assassinated for the advantage of this same 



240 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

man ? Before making ourselves the cursers of the mur- 
derers, let us be informed who is the greatest murderer, 
and who is the most worthy of our curses. Until then, 
we can only see in attempts similar to that of Thursday 
evening that which is called the return of things here 
below, with a warning to the elect of Providence to have 
always present to his mind this expression of Scripture, 
' He who makes use of the sword shall perish by the 
sword.' " The defendant is Mr. Louis Labarre. The 
prosecution is a propitiation to Louis Napoleon, who 
will hardly find it difficult to dragoon Belgium. 

1858. February 15. — In the Commons, on the India 
bill, heard Mr. Roebuck, who was rather general and 
feeble, and the Irish orator, Mr. Whitesides, whose ani- 
mation and vigour, in proving the inconsistency of the 
chief members of the Cabinet in proposing this form of 
measure, were irresistible. The quotations he made from 
the speeches of Sir Charles Wood, in 1853, were pointed 
and striking, as if directly condemnatory of the leading 
features of the bill. 

1858. February 16. — Met at the Duchess Dowager of 
Somerset's, Lord Panmure, Mr. Villiers, Sir Benjamin 
Hall, Sir Alexander Cockburn, Lord Chief-Justice of 
Common Pleas, and some members of Parliament. The 
Duchess is unbounded in her admiration of everything 
American. Her dishes were " a la Washington," " a la 
Niagara," " a la Republique Americaine," and the chief 
ornaments of her table were small flags of white satin, 
on which were handsomely painted the arms of the 
United States. 

1858. February 18. — Considerable popular excitement 
is brewing against the new Conspiracy or Alien Bill, and a 
meeting in Hyde Park is contemplated on Sunday next. 






AT THE COUNT OF ST. JAMES. 24 1 

At the first levee of the season to-day I conversed with 
a number of eminent gentlemen, — the Irish Solicitor- 
General, Sir John Harding, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, 
etc. The two former, as law officers, to my surprise, in- 
troduced the tenth article of the treaty of 1842, on the 
extradition of criminals, and expressed their entire ap- 
proval of my construction. How they knew it, I forbore 
to inquire. The Colonial Secretary, Mr. Labouchere, en- 
tered upon the topic of the intention of the Mormons to 
migrate into the territory held by license by the Hudson 
Bay Company. He said if they once get there it would 
be difficult to get rid of them, notwithstanding the ex- 
pressed repugnance of the Queen to have such " horrid 
creatures" among her subjects. Her Majesty was beset 
by deputations presenting addresses of congratulation 
on the late marriage. She knighted two gentlemen, and 
many, on bended knee, kissed her hand. 

The Moniteur disputes the accuracy of Lord Palmer- 
ston's statement as to the legacy to Cantillon, and pro- 
poses by an official statement to disprove the allegation 
that Louis Napoleon has acted upon the idea that his 
uncle was deranged. The Premier would seem to have 
rather carelessly trodden upon the toes of his Imperial 
favourite. 

A strong gathering took place yesterday in Lambeth 
hostile to the Conspiracy Bill ; another is preparing at 
Liverpool ; another at Sheffield. The pertinacious in- 
terference of French police agents here, in dogging the 
movements of every refugee, is attracting notice, and 
will rouse a dangerous feeling. 

1858. February 20. — Last night, or rather this morn- 
ing about one, the House of Commons divided on an 
amendment to Lord Palmerston's Conspiracy Bill, offered 



242 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

by Milner Gibson, recently elected for Ashton-on-Lyne. 
In effect the amendment struck out the whole bill, and 
substituted a censure upon the Government for not having 
replied to the despatch of Walewski of the 20th of Jan- 
uary, 1858. Mr. Gibson maintained his amendment by 
a speech admirable in reasoning and tone, and was ably 
supported by Mr. Gladstone, Sir Robert Peel, Mr. 
Disraeli, and Mr. Walpole. The Conservatives and true 
Liberals united, and beat the Ministry by a majority of 
nineteen. The mode of putting the question was thus: 
The Speaker stated that the motion was to read the bill 
a second time ; that to that motion an amendment was 
offered, and he read it; then, Shall the words proposed 
to be struck out, stand part of the question ? The reply 
of the House was two hundred and fifteen ayes, two hun- 
dred and thirty-four noes ! A result so unexpected and 
striking produced among the victors vociferous cheering, 
and the opposition papers are to-day full of exultation. 
In the city it is thought the Ministry will not resign. 
They are silly politicians if they delay a moment. De- 
claring their defeat as a proof of hostility to the French 
alliance, and their determination not to administer the 
Government except by strengthening that alliance in 
every constitutional way, their retirement from office 
could not but be of very short duration. The great gath- 
ering to-morrow in Hyde Park will have a merry time, 
now that they are backed by a majority in the House of 
Commons. 

Dined with the Queen to-day at eight. I walked the 
beautiful Duchess of Manchester to her seat at the table, 
her Majesty in the centre, with the Prince Consort on her 
right. This is a novel arrangement, and may be owing 
to the new title, which the German Masters of Ceremo- 



AT THE COURT OF ST JAMES. 243 

nies refuse to accept. Between tne and the Prince Consort 
was the Duchess of Cambridge, and to my right, beyond 
the Duchess of Manchester, was Lord Clarendon. To 
the Queen's left was, first, the Prince of Wales, then the 
Duchess of Wellington, then the Duke of Manchester, 
then Mrs. Dallas. The Princess Mary of Cambridge sat 
opposite the Queen, having on her right the Duke of 
Wellington, and on her left the Turkish Ambassador, 
Musurus. The rest of the company — Madame Musurus, 
Lady Clarendon, Lady Mary Wood, Lord Byron, two 
other Lords, and two other ladies in waiting — came in 
proper succession. I found my neighbour chatty and 
agreeable. The dinner, of course, admirable, was im- 
proved by delightful music from an unseen band. It 
was half-past eight before we were at table, and not more 
than half-past ten when we rose and went into the Picture 
Gallery, to coffee or tea. And here it was that the min- 
isterial defeat in the House of Commons, at one in the 
morning, began to tell by little noticeable incidents. The 
Duke of Wellington first whispered to me that he knew 
that the Cabinet had resigned; then there were protracted 
conversations between the Queen and, first, Lord Claren- 
don, and, second, Sir Charles Wood ; then the young heir 
apparent, carelessly addressing Lady Wood, remarked, 
"Well, the Ministers are all out;" and then Lord Clar- 
endon, who affected great loudness of spirits, said to the 
beautiful Duchess, of her husband, " He may be First 
Lord of the Admiralty." So, then, here was the Court 
of Victoria Regina first conscious of a great change in 
the administration of the Empire ! How gently it works ! 
While it may convulse the' nation, and lead to a general 
European war, in the Palace it but " points a moral or 
adorns a tale," and is acknowledged only by a few smiles 



244 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

and jests. Lord Palmerston held a council in Downing 
Street at three o'clock, and at four he was seen, riding 
gayly on his high charger, on his way to Buckingham 
Palace to divest himself and associates of office and 
power! I ask myself, reflectively, whether this calm ac- 
quiescence in the ascendency of the popular will, as an- 
nounced by a sudden majority in a single House of Par- 
liament, does not resemble and almost equal the general 
submission we accord to the result of an election. 

In the short conversation I had in my turn with the 
Queen, I hoped that Her Majesty had been informed 
that the spirit of festivity had on the 25th of January 
been wafted from London, across the Atlantic, to Wash- 
ington? She was apparently much gratified, and said 
she intended sending to the President a medal which she 
had had struck in commemoration of the occasion. She 
is obviously proud of the match her daughter has made. 
" There is," as she says, " but one small bitter drop in 
the bowl. My daughter necessarily is separated from 
me; but, you know, it is impossible to have everything 
exactly as we like." 

We took our customary seats round the Queen's tea- 
table, and I engaged Lady Clarendon in conversation. 
Both she and Lady Wood had rather a look of de- 
jection. At one moment, noticing Lady Clarendon's 
eyes to redden a little, and thinking that I perceived a 
tendency to more water in them than might be comfort- 
able, I hurried to describe my delight at witnessing the 
scene of the eight bridesmaids, in which her daughter, 
Lady Constance Villiers, had performed a part in the 
Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace. The mother got the 
better of the politician ; and I avoided the rock. 

Lord Byron, in the course of the evening, very hand- 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 245 

somely apologized for having seen us so little. His rail- 
way accident, a year ago, has left a permanent pain in 
his head, and has so injured Lady Byron's health that 
she can rarely leave her house. There is in his face a 
very singular resemblance to my father. 

1858. February 22. — When Lord Palmerston on Sat- 
urday resigned, the Queen sent for Lord Derby, who 
obtained an audience that very evening, before the din- 
ner I have described. Since then he has had a consulta- 
tion with Gladstone, who agreed to join him, upon con- 
dition that his associates — the Duke of Newcastle, Sir 
James Graham, Mr. Cardwell, and Mr. Sidney Herbert — 
would agree; but these gentlemen declined being mem- 
bers of a Tory cabinet, and, of course, Mr. Gladstone de- 
clines also. Lord Derby is, therefore, embarrassed at 
the threshold, and may find it impossible to compose 
a ministry. 

The irritation in Paris is said to be extreme. The 
correspondent of The Post intimates even the possibility 
of war. I have been told that while the Conspiracy Bill 
was still discussing, Count Persigny called upon the Earl 
of Derby, and spoke earnestly as to its passing. " But 
it may not," said the Earl ; " what then ?" " La guerre," 
was the reply. " That," coolly returned Lord Derby, 
" you had better tell Lord Claren Jon." The next day the 
Ambassador went to Paris, whence he has not returned. 

1858. February 24. — I met last night, at Sir John Shaw 
Lefevre's, Lord Chief-Justice Campbell, Lord Overstone, 
Sir George Grey, and Sir Frederick Thesiger. They in- 
formed me that Lord Derby had completed his Cabinet 
and submitted it to the Queen. Thesiger is the new 
Lord Chancellor, and said that he had on that account 
withdrawn from the trial against the Royal British 

22 



246 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Bank directors which he had been prosecuting until that 
morning. 

The Times of to-day contains the following as the 
Ministry : 

Prime or Treasury Derby. Palmerston. 

Exchequer Disraeli. Lewis. 

Lord Chancellor Thesiger. Cranworth. 

President of Council Salisbury. Granville. 

Privy Seal Hardwicke. Clanricarde. 

Home Secretary ...... Mr. Walpole. Sir G. Grey. 

Foreign Secretary Malmesbury. Clarendon. 

Colonial Secretary E. B. Lytton. Labouchere. 

War Secretary General Peel. Panmure. 

First Lord of Admiralty . . . Sir J. Pakington. Sir C. Wood. 

Postmaster-General Colchester. Argyll. 

President of Board of Trade . Henley. Stanley of Alderney. 

President of Board of Control . Ellenborough. Vernon Smith. 

First Commissioner of Works . Lord J. Manners. Sir B. Hall. 

Attorney-General Sir F. Kelly. Sir R. Bethell. 

Lord Lieutenant (Ireland) . . Eglinton. Carlisle. 

1858. February 26. — Dined with Mr. Hankey. In the 
evening went to Lady Colchester's ; the rooms crowded 
with triumphant conservatives. The new Lord Chan- 
cellor, the new Attorney-General, the new Colonial Sec- 
retary, the new Postmaster-General, and various others, 
all beaming with exulting smiles. I am told that the 
rival reception at Lady Stanley of Alderney 's was 
sombre, — almost lachrymose. Sir F. Thesiger says that 
the first use he makes of the great seal, after receiv- 
ing it, is to afrix it, that casualties may be avoided, to 
the instrument which secures his own retiring pension of 
five thousand pounds per annum ! To be sure, this is a 
small matter to a leading lawyer in full practice like Sir 
Frederick, whose honoraria amount sometimes to thirty 
thousand. The pension is, however, for life ; his Lord 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 247 

Chancellorship may last six months or a year, and it 
equals the salary of our President ! 

Persigny is reported to have returned from France, 
with instructions to persevere in requiring the fulfilment 
of Walewski's despatch of January 20th. If this be 
true, the Derby administration will find it hard to avoid 
an early fall, for hostility to the " Conspiracy-to-Murder 
Bill" is declaring itself violently all over the country, 
and yet the state necessity of propitiating the Emperor 
is felt to be imminent. 

1858. February 27. — Lord Derby was expected to an- 
nounce the circumstances of his accession to office, and 
a general programme of policy, yesterday afternoon in 
the House of Lords. I went to hear, but, meeting in the 
antechamber the Marquis of Salisbury and Lord Chan- 
cellor Cranworth, was informed by them that the matter 
would be postponed till Monday. Is there a hitch ? 

All the old Ministers surrendered to the Queen yester- 
day, and the new ones accepted from her, the seals of 
their respective offices. 

Mr. Lindsay, M.P., called upon me to-day. He is 
having a consultation with a knot of members of the 
House upon the course to be pursued to effect an aboli- 
tion of Light Dues as far at least as they affect the ship- 
ping of the United States trading with this country. As 
we tax no one, he naturally thinks we ought not to be 
taxed. I gave him ideas and memoranda on which he 
intends acting. He read me a capital and characteristic 
letter he had just got from Mr. Cobden, on the retribu- 
tive justice exemplified in Milner Gibson and John 
Bright being the Tellers to announce to the House of 
Commons the majority of nineteen on the vote of cen- 
sure which has driven Palmerston from office ! 



248 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

I received to-day the customary official note from Lord 
Clarendon informing me of his resignation of the office 
of Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and 
of the Queen having confided the seals of that Depart- 
ment to Lord Malmesbury. I immediately acknowl- 
edged the receipt of this letter, and concluded by ex- 
pressing a high and lasting appreciation of the urbanity, 
candour, and friendliness by which our intercourse had 
been uniformly characterized. This closes my repre- 
sentative connection with the Palmerston Ministry. 
Will it be renewed ? Lord Clarendon is now fifty- 
seven years of age. He has had much experience in 
public life, having begun as secretary or attache to the 
British legation at St. Petersburg, when Mr. Bagot, who 
was formerly in the United States, was Minister at 
that Court. He filled various missions abroad, particu- 
larly that at Madrid. He was in early life a sort of 
Commissioner of Customs, attached to the revenue de- 
partment in Dublin, and ended his career in Ireland 
when he ceased to be its Lord Lieutenant. As a man 
of business he is quick in perception, exceedingly plausi- 
ble in manner, laborious, and talented, and sufficiently 
punctual, though sometimes dilatory. He has the ap- 
pearance more than the sentiment of frankness, and will 
occasionally inspire distrust by physiognomical, never 
verbal, expressions of cunning. These looks are transient, 
and do not indicate his conduct. I have not known 
him guilty of actual deception in a single instance, for, 
although I think he should have apprised me of his 
having introduced into the Treaty with Honduras the 
clause repudiating slavery in the Bay Islands, which, 
subsequently detected by the Senate, produced the re- 
jection of my independent instrument, yet, from the 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 249 

course which the negotiation took, he was not bound to 
do so, and, in a British point of view, might well con- 
sider the details of the arrangement with Mr. Herran as 
matters with which I had really nothing to do. I have 
always thought that the Honduras Minister overreached 
himself by introducing that provision at a moment of 
anxious suspense, just before the convention was finally 
drafted, in order to propitiate capitalists in reference to 
the railway across the Isthmus. Some miner in the 
quarries of historical archives may hereafter detect the 
precise moment when, and the precise inducement to, 
that suicidal disregard of the feeling known to exist in 
America. My judgment is that Lord Clarendon, who 
was perfectly aware of our sensitiveness on the point, 
would never have originated the clause, though, when 
offered it by Herran and backed by those whose wealth 
was about to be invested in the transit, he might feel, as 
an English abolitionist acting for a nation of abolitionists, 
bound to accept it. 

Lord Clarendon is rfo orator. I think, indeed, that it 
is always painful to listen to his speeches, for, though his 
matter is full and exact, his hesitating and drawling are 
oppressive beyond measure. He never would do on the 
Treasury Bench in the Commons. He is safer in the 
dull drawing-room of legislation among oligarchs, always 
polite to each other, and seldom zealous enough in de- 
bate to quit the tame colloquial path. Nor is he an 
effective writer. He is considered generally as the rea 
author of Palmerston's overthrow by having shrunk 
from answering in a firm manner the insolent despatch 
of Walewski. Notwithstanding all this, his abilities are 
so established, his personal deportment so unexception- 



250 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

able and conciliatory, that I venture to predict his being 
Prime Minister when Derby is voted down. 

1858. March 1. — Went to the House of Lords. 
Crowded in every part to hear the new premier's pro- 
gramme. The opposition, the late Ministers, Granville, 
Clarendon, Argyll, Lansdowne, Clanricarde, Panmure, 
etc., all on the left of the Lord Chancellor, with full 
benches. Lord Palmerston stood in the midst of a 
throng, in front of the throne, and, of course, outside 
the bar. Many ladies in the gallery. The Commons 
in large numbers. Four bishops and the archbishop in 
their robes. On the Treasury Bench were Lords Derby, 
Malmesbury, Montrose, Hardwicke, Ellenborough, Col- 
chester, etc. 

Lord Derby spoke for nearly two hours. He pro- 
fessed incompetency for the great task he had under- 
taken. Recapitulated the incidents which led the Queen 
to summon him. Read the motion of Milner Gibson, 
and adopted it as the sense of Parliament. Laboured 
through a narrative of the attempt on Louis Napoleon's 
life, which he strongly depicted as wanting in no feature 
of aggravation. Argued that the law of England pun- 
ished the conspiracy to kill anybody anywhere, but 
would not say that the punishment was adequate. His 
course on this topic would be to do what his predecessors 
had omitted, that is, he would reply to the despatch of 
Count Walewski, and he expected satisfactory explana- 
tions to follow. Anticipated an easy arrangement on the 
India bill. Vaguely promised, as to Reform, a measure 
next session. 

A criminal proceeding against a bookseller here for libel 
is going on. The man's name is Edward Truelove. The al- 
leged libel is the circulation of a pamphlet printed in Lon- 



AT TJJE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 25 I 

don on the 24th of February, 1858, signed by three per- 
sons, who describe themselves as " the Committee of the 
Revolutionary Commune." It vindicates with extraor- 
dinary force and fearlessness of eloquence the " attentat" 
of Orsini, and gives assurance that Italian patriotism will 
yet strike down their tyrant. Strange that, even for the 
ostensible purpose of condemning it, so powerful a paper 
should be allowed to appear in the Morning Post, as it 
does to-day! Quern Dais vult perdere, etc. 

1858. March 3. — I had to-day a long visit from the 
Marquess of Lansdovvne. He is now seventy-seven 
years of age, and is a sample of the " fine old English 
gentleman." He is a permanent 'member of the Privy 
Council, and will not, therefore, I presume, be personally 
affected by the overthrow of the Whig Ministry. His 
conversation was highly agreeable. We talked upon all 
the topics of the day freely. We considered the state of 
historical literature in our two countries ; and while I 
spoke of Alison, Macaulay, Grote, and Hallam, he was 
warmly eulogistic of Bancroft and Prescott, to the former 
of whom he had lent the correspondence of his father, 
who was in the Ministry when our Treaty of 1783 was 
made. He took occasion to ask my opinion on the law 
of conspiracy in reference to foreigners, and where the 
overt acts were to be committed in another country. I 
expressed my judgment, as I had expressed to Lord 
Campbell, that it was impossible for me to entertain a 
doubt that, wherever the doctrine of the common law 
prevailed, an alien was as much amenable to the criminal 
code as a conspirator as a citizen, and that there could 
be no immunity, except in the known cases of foreign 
Ministers, and that even they might by circumstances 
of an extreme character render themselves liable to the 



252 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

penal law. I thought he indicated as a party man a 
slight disappointment at the strength of my conviction 
of what the law is. 

1858. March 6. — Went at night to Lord Palmerston's. 
I think every one of the retired Ministry was there; 
the rooms, however, not crowded. Lady Holland and I 
disputed the age of Lord Derby. I thought him sixty- 
seven, she fifty-seven. I find, on examining, that he is 
fifty-eight. Lord Stanley, of whose speech on being re- 
elected every one is speaking in more or less eulogy, is 
thirty-two. Here is something analogous to Chatham 
and Pitt. Stanley was an under-Secretary of State in 
the Foreign Office during his father's short ministry 
in 1852. I think him a sound Radical; he is usually 
termed a Conservative Liberal ; he frankly avows that 
he entered the present Cabinet only because it is his 
father's. 

Young Viscount Bury, son of the Earl of Albemarle, 
introduced his wife to me, and she subsequently pre- 
sented her father, Sir Allan McNab ! I remember that, 
when at St. Petersburg, in 1838, I wrote home to For- 
syth, our Secretary of State, a violent condemnation of 
the then Colonel McNab for his capture and destruction 
of the steamer Caroline. 

In the course of the day called on my neighbour, W. 
S. Lindsay, M.P. He, Bright, Roebuck, and Milner 
Gibson are pushing the point of abolishing the Light 
Dues. They have agreed upon the fundamental princi- 
ple that every civilized nation is bound to pay the ex- 
pense of lighting its own coasts and waters ; and now 
they are collecting materials for a strong and well- 
digested movement. They have all kinds of difficulties 
to encounter, — traditionary, corporate, and financial. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 253 

Went to see Sir Henry Holland. He read me a part 
of a letter he had just received from Paris, which repre- 
sented France as honeycombed with secret societies, and 
illustrated the strict system of espionage by the case of 
a British nobleman, who, accustomed to regale himself 
at a particular cafe with the Independance Beige and his 
coffee, on one occasion, having called for his newspaper, 
was handed one which had obviously been cut down 
and pruned throughout by censorship. " Pshaw!" said 
he, " give me the genuine article." The waiter busied 
himself as if anxious to find it, when a third personage 
stepped up, and requested his Lordship to accompany 
him into an adjoining room. He demurred. The police- 
card was shown him, and he was conducted to prison! 
Sir Henry seemed to think the Emperor misled by his 
" entourage." 

An admirable leader in the Times against the insolent 
pretension and effort of Louis Napoleon to enlist the 
penal codes of all Europe for his personal purposes. 
Belgium, Switzerland, and Sardinia yield, but Austria 
indignantly takes fire. 

1858. March 11. — Went to-night to Lord Salisbury's. 
He is the new President of the Privy Council. I have 
known him for some time, — a plain, unaffected gentle- 
man, more of the rural character than political. His 
house in London is large and handsome ; nothing equal, 
however, to Hatfield, which I drove to while staying with 
Bulwer Lytton at Knebworth. The grand staircase here 
is uncommonly fine and effective. The saloons were 
crowded ; the principal one is very large, with arched 
ceiling, and lighted by an immense hoop of wax candles 
and a gas skylight. The furniture is unequal to the man- 
sion. Met Bulwer Lytton, whom I have not encountered 



254 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

for months, and expressed regret that he adhered to the 
Nolo cpiscopari. He thought the Derby Cabinet would 
be short-lived. 

1858. March 12. — In the evening at Dr. Barlow's, one 
of the secretaries to the British Institution, and thence to 
Lord Overstone's, where there were professional musi- 
cians who played and sang finely. I had gone in the 
afternoon to the House of Commons, where Mr. Disraeli 
announced, as his first ministerial communication, that 
the " painful misconceptions" between the English and 
French Governments were satisfactorily settled. The 
case of the two British engineers criminally prosecuted 
at Naples, after being arrested on board the Cagliari, was 
introduced, and an interesting debate sprung up, in which 
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, as the leader for the 
Cabinet, and his colleague, Mr. Fitzgerald, under-Secre- 
tary of State, expressed the view of Government to ad- 
here to the course of their predecessors ; while Lord Pal- 
merston, Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Horsman, Mr. Roebuck, and 
Lord John Russell urged that a recently-ascertained fact, 
acknowledged by the Neapolitan functionaries in their 
correspondence with Count Cavour, — to wit, that the 
Cagliari was illegally captured on the high seas, — 
changed the aspect of the case, and warranted a demand 
for their suffering countrymen. 

Shoals of welcome letters from the United States. 

1858. March 15. — Went to the Lords, expecting an 
explanation or exculpation from the Marquess of Clanri- 
carde on the subject of his conduct in the celebrated Han- 
cock scandal. Odd enough, many ladies attended, as he 
had given public notice of his intention. He abstained ; 
perhaps on account of the audience. Lord Brougham 
and Lord Chancellor Chelmsford (Thesiger) had a short 






AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 255 

debate on a bill, and I was exceedingly gratified at wit- 
nessing the dignity and talent with which the latter 
triumphed over his great antagonist. 

1858. March 16. — An evening paper states that one of 
the French Colonels, devoted to the Emperor, has sent 
a challenge to Mr. Roebuck, for what he said in one of 
the recent discussions on the Conspiracy-to-Murder Bill. 
So the desire to kill a political adversary is not confined 
to the refugees in London! 

By the by, Lord Malmesbury laid upon the table last 
evening the correspondence with Walewski, which would 
seem for the present to close the controversy on the ref- 
ugee matter. Orsini and Pierri were guillotined on the 
morning of Saturday last. They both behaved admira- 
bly, the former especially so. In a little while their 
names will be enrolled on the list of martyred patriots. 

1858. March 17. — Queen's levee at half-past one ; con- 
siderably thronged. Dined with Mr. Lindsay, Milner 
Gibson, Roebuck, Cairns, Lord Clarence Paget, Lord 
Goderich, Lord Bury, Bramley Moore, and many more, 
about twenty in all. After the dessert, discussed the 
national duty of lighting the coasts free to foreign com- 
merce. The motion to be introduced in the House of 
Commons by Lord Paget was carefully considered ; 
three or four written forms for it submitted by Roebuck 
and Gibson. I explained, at request, the constitutional 
and legal condition of the Light-House Board in the 
United States. They will probably shape their course 
to obtain a similar executive department. 

Heard in the course of the day many expressions of 
sentiment which indicate that the correspondence between 
Malmesbury and Walewski is very far from extracting 
the poison from the wound inflicted on the alliance. 



256 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Went to Lord Derby's reception. 

1858. Marcli 18. — Took the ladies to see some pictures 
at present attracting notice. The principal one was a very 
large painting, by Winterhalter, of the Empress Eugenie, 
in the centre of a group of seven ladies of her Court. 
They are all exceedingly beautiful, but too much alike 
for distinctive portraits. One of the loveliest, perhaps 
the very loveliest, is a daughter of Colonel Thorne, of 
New York. They are represented in woodland scenery, 
seated or kneeling, and one or two standing. The Em- 
press is on a sort of raised bank of green turf. Rich 
flowers, in one large cluster, on the foreground. The 
artist is of the French school of extreme finish. 

There was also a fine large painting of Sir William 
Williams and Staff quitting Kars ; also a capital portrait 
of the Princess Royal, marked as the property of the 
Queen; engravings of great excellence of this last were 
much admired. A number of fine and agreeable sketches 
of the eight bridesmaids at the recent royal wedding. 

Went to the House of Commons. Mr. Cairns came to 
me in the gallery, and kindly offered to furnish the infor- 
mation I am seeking for Senator Pearce respecting the 
agricultural colleges and schools of England. 

1858. Marcli 24. — Barney Williams gave me the first 
hearty laugh I have had since my mission began. His 
wife exhibited great powers of transition in various per- 
sonations. She represented an American lady, whose 
English lover had suddenly withdrawn his attention and 
gone travelling to Seville. She determined to pursue and 
regain him ; and with some concert with others, and by 
the assumption, at the hotel where all are collected, of 
different striking characters, remaining herself, in propria 
persona, invisible and incog., she finally effects her object. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 257 

The farce is something of " She Stoops to Conquer." 
She is a prima donna, a ballet-dancer, a capital London 
exquisite, a Spanish bull fighter, an Italian jealous hus- 
band, and an American lady's maid. Mr. Williams had 
been exceedingly attentive in his preparations to receive 
us. A manager was at the door of the theatre to receive 
our carriage and escort the ladies to their assigned box, 
which was enlarged by the removal of a partition. Hand- 
some bouquets of flowers lay on the broad front ledge ; 
and at the close of " Rory O'More," the orchestra, after 
playing other tunes, fell, as if casually, into " Hail, 
Columbia !" 

Went to Mr. Percival's, whose daughter married Wal- 
pole, of the present Ministry. Queen's levee at two. 
Dined with Mr. Darby Griffith, M.P. for Devizes. Went 
at ten to meet the Duchess of Cambridge at Mrs. Bates', 
certainly one of the most finished and elegant receptions 
we have seen in London. Had a long and lively chat 
with Earl Grey. The beauty of the youthful Duchess 
of Manchester quite eblouissante. Proceeded finally to 
Northumberland House, where the crowd was actually 
crushing. Met Bulwer Lytton, and Judge Haliburton 
was introduced to me. 

1858. March 25. — Lord Salisbury's reception. Met 
there Sir Charles Lyell, and made the acquaintance of 
the celebrated Wheatstone, with whom I conversed for 
some time. He is a friend of Dallas Bache and a 
correspondent of Professor Henry. 

1858. March 26. — Dined with Thomas Baring, meet- 
ing Lord and Lady Monteagle, Count Straleski, who has 
been in all parts of the world and knows everything, Mr. 
and Mrs. Raikes Currie, Mr. McCulloch, Mr. Panizzi,and 
Mrs. Henry Baring. The Count knew Yeh of Canton, 

23 



258 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

and said he was grossly travestied by the press and in 
engravings. The Duke of Malakoff he represented as 
even more corpulent than Panizzi. The gallery — and, 
indeed, all the rooms constitute a crowded gallery — was 
brilliantly lighted up, and afforded, after dinner, a de- 
lightful lounge. Paintings and objects of vertu are 
multitudinous and exquisite. 

1858. March 27. — Mr. Disraeli introduced the new 
India bill of the new Cabinet in the House of Commons 
last night. His speech, explanatory of its provisions, 
was uncommonly clear and good. The project of the 
Government is exceedingly bold and complicated. A 
Minister of the Crown, with a seat in Parliament, and a 
Council of eighteen, — nine Councillors nominated by the 
Crown, nine elective ; of the elective, five chosen by the 
present constituencies of London, Manchester, Liverpool, 
Glasgow, and Belfast, one by each, and four by Indian 
constituencies, — that is, constituencies who have served 
in India prescribed periods, hold public stock of East 
India Company, or are registered proprietors of India 
railway stock to the amount of two thousand pounds ; 
these constituencies are estimated at five thousand. 
Novel as the plan is, it improves upon Lord Palmerston's, 
by avoiding patronage. In some of its features it is es- 
sentially clap-trap. It was denounced by Roebuck and 
Bright, and will have a hard road to travel. 

The Ministry are beginning to tell by their measures. 
They have got the two engineers out of the cells of 
Naples ; they have stunned the world with their India 
Bill ; they have seemingly quieted France ; and now 
their changes in the Diplomatic Corps are revealed. 
They send to Vienna, in place of Sir Hamilton Seymour, 
Lord A. Loftus, now Secretary at Berlin ; to Madrid, vice 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 259 

Howden, Mr. Buchanan, now Minister at Copenhagen ; 
to St. Petersburg, instead of Lord Wodehouse, my 
quondam friend Crampton ; to Copenhagen, Mr. Elliot, 
now Secretary at Vienna ; to Florence, Mr. Howard, now 
Secretary at Paris ; and to Paris, as Secretary, Lord 
Chelsea. 

In the evening, at Lady Palmerston's, Lord Palmerston 
pounced upon me the question, what I thought of the 
new India bill ? and I plumply answered that it struck 
me as a brilliant specimen of imaginative statesmanship, 
a perfect labyrinth of intricate and incongruous details. 
He said it was an odd mess and wholly impracticable. 

We dined at Lord Malmesbury's, whose house is in 
Whitehall Gardens. There were at table my colleague 
Lavradio, of Portugal, and his wife, Lord and Lady In- 
gestrie, Bulwer Lytton, Colonel Lennox, Lady Manners, 
Mr. Bidwell, etc. Everything exceedingly plain. Lady 
Malmesbury, a most intelligent and agreeable woman, 
complained of the prevailing violence of party-spirit, 
and the discomforts ungenerously produced by the op- 
position. His Lordship's family name is Harris ; he is 
fifty-one years of age ; he held the Foreign Office under 
Lord Derby as Prime Minister, 1852; his wife is Emma 
Clorisande, daughter of the Earl of Tankerville. I can- 
not yet pretend to have formed an opinion of the new 
Secretary. He is of a meditative aspect, slow in address, 
a countenance that lights up agreeably, and rather chary 
of speech. 

1858. March 30.— Dined with Mr. Moffat, M.P., Eaton 
Square; Mr. Villiers, Mr. Delane, Mr. Morrison, Colonel 
Scarlett, Phil, and another M.P. Colonel Scarlett has 
just returned from a seven months' range in the United 
States, and is enthusiastic in expressing his delight. He 



26(3 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

was in the Crimea, and as an observing soldier was 
struck with the American Kit, in every respect four to 
one better than the English. 

1858. April 6. — Yesterday, Mr. Latrobe, of Baltimore, 
Sir Henry Holland, young Tricoupi and his sister, and 
Dr. Gullen, of the navy, dined with us. We had a cap- 
ital dinner, and were gay until near twelve at night. 
Latrobe spent several months in St. Petersburg, whence 
he has just returned, as counsel for the railway con- 
tractors, Winans & Co., who paid him a fee of sixty 
thousand dollars, paid his expenses, and treated him en 
prince. He agreeably revived our recollections of per- 
sons and places in the Russian capital. 

Easter has thinned London, and few incidents worth 
noting come to my attention. 

Went to-day to the studio of Cropsey. His land- 
scapes are admirable. They are nearly all of American 
scenery. His largest and best are a view of the Green 
Mountains in Vermont and one of the fall scenery on 
the Susquehanna. Others are beautiful sketches on the 
Hudson. The richness of colouring which marks the 
foliage of our autumn is scarcely understood here, and 
rather depreciated as extravagant and untrue to nature. 

1858. April 8. — The capture of Lucknow by Sir Colin 
Campbell is officially announced. 

1858. April 9. — Invited to the Foreign Office by Lord 
Malmesbury. His conversation is a decided earnest of 
conciliatory dispositions on the part of the new Ministry. 
His lordship avowed that he thought the American Con- 
tinent was destined to be absorbed by the United States, 
and why be perpetually resisting what cannot be pre- 
vented ? for his part he had no objection. He wished 
to put an end to every difference between England and 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 26 1 

America. The proposal to arbitrate the subjects of dis- 
agreement as to the Clayton and Bulwer Treaty was 
still open for acceptance; but, if declined, the abrogation 
of that Convention, as intimated in the President's mes- 
sage, would not be objected to by this government. 

1858. April it. — A strong article in the Spectator of 
yesterday deplores the total unfitness of the English 
existing statesmen to govern the country. Every one 
has in succession failed, whether Whig or Tory. This 
would, in a liberal quarter, seem to be specially aimed 
against Lord Palmerston. 

Commodore Armstrong represents public affairs in 
China to be upside down. A joint remonstrance with 
the English, French, and Russian Ministers to the Em- 
peror may possibly have been signed ; but they do not 
act together in measures of hostility. He tells me a 
curious fact : that all the originals of the Treaties hereto- 
fore made with the Chinese by the western powers, in- 
cluding ourselves, were found at Canton, showing beyond 
a doubt that they had never been transmitted to Pekin, 
and were wholly unknown to the Imperial government ! 
It is a singular feature of the Chinese social and political 
polity that no common bond or sympathy exists between 
adjoining districts: each has to settle its own quarrels; 
that one should be attacked and detached violently from 
the others, is regarded with unconcern, or at most as a 
matter for the local mandarins to rectify. 

Our charge d'affaires at Brussels called. Changarnier, 
residing in Belgium, expressed to him utter amazement 
at the appointment of Malakoff to London, and could 
only understand it as the entering wedge to a breach. 
He was of opinion that though it might be almost im- 
possible to effect the landing of a French army in Eng- 

23* 



262 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

land, yet if that were accomplished with twenty thousand 
men, the island would be conquered. Mr. Clark ridiculed 
the idea. I did not; on the contrary, my impression was 
that a promise not to interfere with the personal and 
property rights of the great body of the people would 
keep them quiet; that the oligarchy had succeeded in 
finally extinguishing patriotism. To be sure, if they 
had a large or adequate standing army stationed at home, 
it would fight bravely, for it would be paid for fighting ; 
but, en masse, the people would not stir an inch as vol- 
unteers to save a system which has driven the cold iron 
of contempt into their very souls, and grinds them to 
dust with taxes. 

Bonaparte is overshooting himself by excessive mys- 
tery. He is at something, but no one can imagine what. 
England watches, Austria fears, Italy hopes, Belgium 
cowers, Germany dreams. 

1858. April 13. — Went to the Commons. Lord John 
Russell on his feet, proposing that the principles and 
details of the India Government be settled by a series 
of resolutions in committee. Obviously, he wants to 
help the administration over the stile, and to plant him- 
self in the attitude of great mediator. Horsman and 
Margies approve. Sir C. Wood, Lord Palmerston, and 
Bouverie oppose. Disraeli, like a drowning man, catches 
at the straw, says he will prepare the resolutions, and 
eulogizes Lord John. 

1858. April 15. — Drove to the House of Lords at five. 
Malmesbury explained in detail the position of the pass- 
port system as recently agreed upon between England 
and France. Another well-conducted achievement of 
the present Ministry. Lord Clarendon spoke upon 
the subject, as did Earl Grey. All hands joined in con- 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 263 

demning as useless and even injurious the whole policy 
of passports. But it was said " a passport interest" had 
grown up on the Continent which would not give up its 
fees, and was too strong to be put down by the Emperor, 
whose aversion to the system as ineffective and illusory 
had been declared to Lord Clarendon himself. 

Pelissier reached London to-day, accompanied by two 
military aids. 

1858. April 16. — The prosecution closed its case 
against Bernard last night, and his counsel, James, ad- 
dressed the jury this morning. He was loudly applauded 
by the bystanders and from the gallery when he defied 
the French Emperor, and called on the jury to resist 
the encroachments of a foreign dictation against the 
British principle of protecting political refugees. His 
argument was specious, admitting his client to have fur- 
nished weapons to Orsini, but not for the purpose of 
assassinating Louis Napoleon : only with a view to a 
general rising in Italy. He so often quit the evidence 
to draw upon unproved facts that he betrayed the con- 
sciousness of a bad case. The jury cannot avoid con- 
victing, unless they listen more to their feelings than to 
the testimony. 

1858. April 17. — A significant and pregnant event has 
surprised the upper circles of London. Bernard is 
acquitted ! The verdict was received by the crowd in 
Court with prolonged and irrepressible cheers. At Lord 
Palmerston's, to-night, nothing else was talked of. Lord 
St. Leonards said it indicated the rising tide of republi- 
canism. The incident, in my opinion, is a striking man- 
ifestation of the popular aversion to Louis Napoleon 
and his despotic measures. All the law, all the witnesses, 
all the judges in the kingdom, could not have induced 



264 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

the jury to find a verdict flattering to the wishes and 
policy of the Emperor. Lord Campbell, in his charge, 
left one loop-hole for their consciences, and they bounded 
through it. He told them that it was possible they might 
construe a particular part of the evidence, which he con- 
sidered of great importance, as tending to show that, 
though engaged in a conspiracy for a general rising in 
Italy, Bernard never contemplated an attack on Louis 
Napoleon ; if they conscientiously believed that to be 
the case, he could not be convicted on the indictment 
before them. The accused, at the close of the judge's 
charge, took this ground in a short exclamation, accom- 
panied by violent gesticulation and great loudness of 
voice, producing a powerful impression. " Not a drop 
of the blood shed on the 14th of January is on my soul. 
But, conspire ! Yes, I did conspire, as every man should, 
against those who were destroying liberty." 

1858. April 19. — At Lord Malmesbury's in the even- 
ing. The Duke of Malakoff was there, a stout, not fat, 
short, not little, sturdy, and compact man, with closely- 
cut white hair, black eyebrows, and black moustache. 
Something of the brute about him, but unaffected. 

1858. April 21. — First at the Botanic Garden, second 
at Northumberland House, and third at the Prime Min- 
ister's. Got myself presented to Pelissier, who immedi- 
ately asked how the Kansas question stood ? With all 
their affected indifference, these European politicians 
have a keen eye for American differences ! Conversed 
long with Lord Derby about the leading forms of legis- 
lation in the two countries ; here, every important meas- 
ure is matured by and introduced from the government; 
no standing committees, as we have. 

1858. April 22. — Queen's drawing-room at St. James's. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 265 

In the evening at Lord Chelmsford's (Thesiger), a very- 
crowded party, being his first since promotion. His 
daughter, Mrs. Major Inglis, recently from the siege of 
Lucknow, was introduced to me by her father. A 
robust, but interesting Englishwoman. Lord Campbell 
appeared rather pleased than otherwise at the verdict 
of the jury in Bernard's case. He said the case had 
been ably and elaborately submitted. It was ascertained 
that Bernard was not to be tried again, although the 
remaining bill was merely a conspiracy, on the ground 
that " nemo debet bis vexari pro cadeni causa." So, the 
refugee conspirator is safe. 

1858. April 24. — At Lord Palmerston's by eleven at 
night. Uncomfortably crowded and hot. Malakoff the 
lion. Talked a good deal to Cardwell, member from 
Oxford. He said that if the French attacked, he pre- 
sumed the United States would come to their protection. 
I said they needed no protection, but that America 
would certainly never passively witness a confederacy 
of Continental despots against British liberty and in- 
dependence. 

In the House of Commons, last night, Mr. Disraeli, 
being threatened by Lord John Russell with opposition 
to his resolutions if he did not do so, finally withdrew 
or abandoned the government's India bill ! This is, in- 
deed, a most rapid surrender of a measure which thun- 
dered in the index ! Strong proof, too, of the powerful 
position of Lord John. 

Being asked my opinion, by Sir Edward Cust, on the 
question of international law involved in the seizure and 
condemnation of the Cagliari, now threatening to bring 
Piedmont and Naples by the ears, I said that my lean- 
ing was all with the constitutional government of Sar- 



266 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

dinia ; but that, as the vessel had confessedly been em- 
ployed as a means of piratical violence upon the coast 
of Sicily, she was liable to the hot pursuit of the aggrieved 
sovereignty, and might justly be captured, thus pursued, 
anywhere. 

1858. April 30. — The Queen's levee on Wednesday 
was well attended, as the militia were disbanded, and 
the officers crowded to take official leave. One painful 
incident occurred. Something, indeed, always happens at 
these royal receptions, trifling in themselves, but made 
serious by the " entourage." A veteran of the army, 
hardly short of eighty, on reaching her Majesty, was 
directed by the Lord Chamberlain to kneel and kiss her 
hand. The old gentleman had one leg infirm, and, what 
with embarrassment and lameness and general debility, 
as he attempted to conform he fell prostrate backwards. 
The interest and kindness manifested by the Queen were 
exceedingly graceful, and seemed to more than compen- 
sate the old soldier for the untoward accident, for he 
looked round, on rising, with an expression of counte- 
nance which said, " Who would not fall thus to be so 
lifted?" 

On the same Wednesday dined with Mr. Vernon 
Smith. Was highly entertained by my left neighbour 
at the table, a Mr. Hubbard, whose family was originally 
from Jamaica, and whose hereditary estates there have 
been entirely ruined by the Emancipation Act. He, and 
Mr. Raikes Currie beyond him, talked much to me 
about the present state of politics : finding fault, as did 
also Mr. Grote, with the submissive deportment of the 
opposition, and characterizing Lord John Russell as the 
very incarnation of political mischief. The historian was 
there, also Mr. Villiers, also a Mr. Reese just returned 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 267 

from Lucknovv (of the siege he has written a narrative), 
and some six or eight others. At about eleven o'clock 
went to Northumberland House, squeezing through a 
frightful jam ! 

1858. May 1. — Went last night to the Commons, ex- 
pecting, from Lord Harry Vane's motion against India 
legislation during the present session, a grand blow-out. 
It proved a fizzle. Milner Gibson, Palmerston, and 
Stanley spoke against it, and the division was four hun- 
dred and forty-seven to fifty-seven ! 

1858. May 3. — The Queen's concert to-night at Buck- 
ingham Palace was somewhat tedious. Lord Donough- 
more, Vice-President of Board of Trade, and Sir Hamilton 
Seymour, just from Vienna, had themselves introduced 
to me : both gentlemen of high intelligence and mark. 
Sir Hamilton spoke much about Lord Napier, who had 
been his secretary of legation at St. Petersburg. Lord 
Donoughmore discussed partially the legal question 
connected with the prosecution of Bernard, — that is, 
whether, under the statutory phrase of the Queen's 
"subjects" it was possible to embrace an alien. He 
thought not; and he understood that Lord Chief- 
Justice Campbell, originally of a different opinion, had, 
upon greater reflection, changed his mind. I did not 
pretend to say what might be the interpretation put upon 
an act of Parliament so recent as George IV.; but I in- 
sisted that, at common law, a conspiracy, matured here, 
to commit murder abroad was indictable, whether the 
accused were subjects or aliens, or both. 

1858. May 6. — The drawing-room yesterday was 
crowded and brilliant. At night, a ball at Lord Derby's, 
given in the apartments in Downing Street appropriated 



268 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

to the first Lord of the Treasury, anything but suitable 
to the wealth, pride, and pretension of his lordship. 

The question as to the union of the principalities of 
Wallachia and Moldavia was up in the Commons last 
night on the motion of Gladstone for an address to the 
Queen in favor of the expressed popular sense of those 
countries. Lord John Russell, with his extreme Liberals, 
took part with the Peelites ; but Palmerston sided with 
Disraeli, and so gave the government a large majority. 
The decision amounts to an expression of opinion hostile 
to the proposed union, as injurious to Turkey, subjecting 
the provinces to Russia, dangerous to Austria, and of 
no real good to the Moldo-Wallachians themselves. 
The joint strength of the Peelites and Russellites was 
one hundred and fourteen. 

Dined to-day with Mr. Peabody at the Star and Garter, 
Richmond ; it was to entertain Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Astor, 
of New York, Mr. and Mrs. Sparks, etc. 

1858. May 7. — Lord Canning's proclamation confis- 
cating all the territory of Oude, with specified exceptions, 
excites marked comment, as a measure alike cruel and 
impolitic. 

Dined at Sir Thomas Cochrane's. Met the Duke of 
Rutland, Earl of Combermere, Lord Braynham, etc., — 
twenty in all. Had on my left the sister of the Duke of 
Norfolk, — on my left, for that marks a point of etiquette ! 
We went to Sir Henry Holland's at eleven. Lord 
Wensleydale and Mr. Milman, Dean of St. Paul's, were 
there. 

1858. May 8. — Invited by Count Lavradio, went to 
Buckingham Palace for presentation to the new Queen 
of Portugal, who, having been married by proxy, is on 
her way to her consort. This lady is Stephanie Frede- 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 269 

rique, Princess of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmarin- 
gen. She was born in 1837, and, therefore, though repre- 
sented to be, as she really looks, about eighteen, she is 
full twenty-one. Her figure is good, her face healthy and 
handsome, and her manner exceedingly unaffected and 
prepossessing. The ceremony took place in the large 
dining- and cloak-room, on the first floor, looking out 
southward upon the gardens. She exchanged, in a very 
low voice, a few words with each member of the corps as 
he advanced. Her father abdicated in 1849 in favour of 
the King of Prussia, who gave him the title of Highness 
and made him Prime Prince of the Royal family. The 
paper of this morning has a paragraph stating that her 
husband, whom she has not seen, has just narrowly es- 
caped being poisoned by one of his religious attendants ! 

At Lord Palmerston's in the evening. Lord Stratford 
de Redcliffe, the Duke of Cambridge, Mr. Edwards, 
formerly of the British Embassy at St. Petersburg, Mr. 
Dundas, and heaps of Liberal commoners. 

1858. May 10. — A resolution offered by Mr. Cardwell, 
this evening, in the House, condemning the disapproba- 
tion expressed in a despatch to India of Lord Canning's 
proclamation in Oude, opens another ministerial crisis. 
The resolution is imputed as a result of the meeting held 
yesterday at Cambridge House, Lord Palmerston's, and 
is equivalent to a want of confidence in her Majesty's 
present advisers. It is assigned for discussion on Thurs- 
day next. It is difficult to foresee the result, as the Radi- 
cals, led by Bright, will probably oppose its adoption. If, 
however, the Peelites, among whom Cardwell is generally 
ranked, vote in a body for it, its success is most probable. 
What course then will the Prime Minister take ? Res- 
ignation ? that is hardly consonant with the resolute 

24 



27O DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

character of Derby. A dissolution ? that may not re- 
ceive the Queen's assent. Much must depend upon the 
attitude finally taken by Lord John Russell, who seems 
to waver. 

The Queen's ball to-night was more than usually 
brilliant, owing, no doubt, to the presence of the Queen 
of Portugal. 

1858. May 11. — In the election at Paris, Picard, the 
opposition candidate, has prevailed over Eck, the gov- 
ernment candidate; the former having ten thousand 
three hundred and twenty-five votes, the latter eight 
thousand nine hundred and seventy-six, — majority 
against Louis Napoleon thirteen hundred and forty- 
nine ! Thus, of the three representatives of Paris, two 
are anti-Emperor. Will not this further provoke his 
Majesty to fresh violence ? 

A catastrophe for Lord Derby is obviously impend- 
ing. The Times, the Post, and the Globe chime the ad- 
vent of a crisis. A motion in the Lords seconds the 
movement of Cardwell in the House. 

Odd enough, Baron Rothschild, though excluded 
from Parliament, has, in conformity with a precedent 
raked up from the records of 17 15, been placed by the 
Commons upon their committee to " reason" with the 
Lords on the Jew bill ! 

Lord Ellenborough, to save the Cabinet, has resigned 
his office. This was announced in the Lords, with much 
eulogy upon its chivalric disinterestedness, by Lord 
Derby. The administration does not, however, give up 
the obnoxious despatch addressed to the Governor-Gen- 
eral, disapproving the proclamation ; so that this retire- 
ment is merely personal, and can have no just influence 
to prevent the prosecution of Mr. Cardwell's motion. 



AT THE C0UR7 OF ST. JAMES. 27 1 

Every development, arising out of careful scrutiny and 
reflection, seems to justify Canning, and to prove that, 
as to India, the Cabinet cannot safely be trusted. 

1858. May 12. — Dined with Mrs. Dickson, who traces 
a family connection with me. Her daughter married a 
son of Lord De la Warr ; and we met at table his Lord- 
ship and Lady De la Warr, also the Lord Chancellor and 
Lady Chelmsford. Lord De la Warr recurred to the his- 
torical fact that one of his ancestors was the first to enter 
our river Delaware and plant a colony on its banks, 
whence its name; and he added that the tribe of Indians 
then known as the Leni-Lenape adopted the name of 
Delawares. 

Went in the evening to a concert at the sumptuous 
house of Mr. Ewing Curwen. 

1858. May 13. — The ministerial crisis is fast and sternly 
maturing. Mr. Cardwell persists with his motion of cen- 
sure, and has strengthened it to-day by amending the 
phraseology, and adjourned it till to-morrow. A change 
of government seemed very generally expected ; whether 
by resignation or dissolution of Parliament is doubtful, 
though the partisans of the administration loudly threaten 
the latter. 

1858. May 14. — Went to the Commons. Cardwell 
opened his resolution of censure with a well-poised and 
well-delivered speech. The defence of the government 
was spirited and able. The Solicitor-General, Cairns, 
spoke better than any man I have yet heard in England. 
His address seemed to produce an immense impression. 
Came away at eleven, perceiving that the debate could 
not possibly close to-night. It was adjourned over to 
Monday. Lord John Russell took firm, if not fierce, 
ground against the Ministry. 



272 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

In the Lords, Shaftesbury, Argyll, Somerset, Grey, 
Newcastle, and Granville sustained the censure; Car- 
narvon, Ellenborough,and Derby resisted. The division 
was taken on the motion for the previous question made 
by the Lord Chancellor Chelmsford. Contents, one hun- 
dred and fifty-eight, of which number sixty-five were 
proxies ; non-contents, one hundred and sixty-seven ; 
proxies, forty-nine ; majority for the Cabinet, nine ! 
This is ominously small for the house of Peers. 

1858. May 15. — A day of hard labour. A drawing- 
room at St. James's Palace. The Queen's birthday, and, 
therefore, everything exceedingly brilliant. Dined with 
Lord Malmesbury at the Foreign Office. The grand 
annual birthday dinner of the diplomats. All present. 
After the Turk had toasted the Queen, Malmesbury got 
up to give the comprehensive toast embracing the gov- 
ernments of all the corps, and his sudden pause, as his 
eye became fixed on me, was comical enough, and elic- 
ited a laugh from my right-hand neighbour, Moreira, the 
Brazilian. " Messieurs, buvons aux Souvcrains [pause] 
et aux etats dont les honorables representants sont 
presents !" 

Went to Lord Derby's at eleven. A perfect and most 
ridiculous jam. 

No one speaks confidently of the result of the minis- 
terial crisis, except the opposition. They claim a major- 
ity of eighty or one hundred. If the Peelites are an ad- 
hesive section, the higher figure may be reached ; and, 
indeed, it may be attained by fragmentary tangents from 
the extreme Liberals. But let us hear Mr. Gladstone 
and Mr. Bright, and then we shall know how the main 
bodies will move. The Radicals, by their intrigues with 
the present Cabinet, as developed by Bright's conduct, 



AT THE COURT OS ST. JAMES. 2J 3 

springing out of their morbid antipathy to Lord Palmer- 
ston, are in danger of losing their identity and of merging 
into the Tory party. The great obstacle to producing a 
harmonious organization of the Whigs arose, as Sir John 
Harding assured me, from the direful rivalry between the 
ladies of the two noblemen aspiring to the Premiership. 
It is now understood that the gentlemen have agreed to 
occupy whatever offices their friends may assign them 
to after the Derby Ministry shall be expelled. The pre- 
vailing impression is that, if defeated, Lord Derby will 
appeal to the people by a dissolution of Parliament. I 
think this doubtful ; because if such an appeal, under ex- 
isting circumstances, proved unsuccessful, his party could 
never again rally. But if he withdraw with dignified ac- 
quiescence from the Treasury bench, quietly cultivate the 
Radicals and the discontented Liberals, and " bide his 
time," it is impossible but that he should have an early 
opportunity to overthrow the Liberals, whose leaders 
are secretly at bitter enmity, and who are weary as to 
reform of that hope deferred which maketh the heart 
sick. As a national representative, I have reason to 
prefer Derby to either Palmerston or Russell. 

1858. May 17. — Dined with Mr. Edward Ellice, meet- 
ing Lord Ashburton, Lord Dufferin, Mr. Dundas, Mr. 
Delane, etc. 

1858. May 18. — Dined with Sir Alexander Spearman; 
a company of eighteen. 

1858. May 20. — First visit ever paid to the Roths- 
childs. Went in the evening to the reception of the 
Fine Arts Club. Large and long table covered with 
antique and curious specimens of porcelain or china- 
ware. 

1858. May 21. — Went to the House of Commons, and 



274 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

witnessed the close of the ministerial crisis, by Mr. 
Cardwell's withdrawing the motion for a vote of cen- 
sure. New and explanatory letters were received from 
Lord Canning this morning, and gave quite a different 
aspect to the question. It became obvious that the 
policy of the confiscating proclamation had been ear- 
nestly disputed by Sir Colin Campbell and Sir James 
Outram ; that, at their instance, a modifying clause 
had been introduced ; and that, however roughly Lord 
Ellenborough had addressed the Governor-General in 
the obnoxious despatch (a roughness atoned for by 
his resignation as President of the Board of Control), 
there was at the bottom a principle of justice and clem- 
ency which should protect the Government from blame. 
As soon as the matter came before the House, Liberal 
after Liberal, in various quarters, and especially among 
the Radicals, rose to request Mr. Cardwell to withdraw 
his motion. He at first declined doing so. The requi- 
sitions became general. Lord Palmerston soon rose, 
and expressed a hope that the member from Oxford 
would conform to the wishes of the House ; and there- 
upon, without comment, Mr. Cardwell withdrew his 
motion. The effect of this break-down, or fizzle, of a 
grand demonstration by the opposition must be to 
strengthen the Government. The menace of a dissolu- 
tion had its natural effect upon a body only recently 
elected, a large number of whose members could not 
relish the idea of incurring the hazards and expenses 
of a new election. Besides, it proves the firmness and 
ability of the Ministry, and inspires the country with 
more confidence. I look upon the Government of 
Lord Derby as really beginning to poise itself in 
conscious strength. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 2J$ 

1858. May 22. — Dined with Mr. Young; thence went 
to Lord Palmerston's. 

1858. May 23. — Dined with Lord Broughton ; met 
Professor Felton, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Mr. 
Ellice, Mr. Panizzi, Lord Glenelg, etc. Discussed 
Guizot's first volume of " Memoires pour servir a 
l'Histoire," etc. Mr. Ellice talked a great deal of 
politics, and seemed discontented with the state of 
things. 

1858. May 25. — Went in the evening to Lord Chief- 
Justice Campbell's. Impossible to convey to his learned 
Lordship's head an exact idea of the limited and federate 
character of the Government of the United States. He 
insists that Congress should suppress polygamy among 
the Mormons. I in vain tell him that, whatever may be 
the power of the local Legislature, Congress has nothing 
to do with religious belief, domestic relations, morals, or 
manners. Yet I hope the President will seize the oppor- 
tunity given by their rebellion to disperse a vile super- 
stitious sect which may, if allowed to take root, poison 
the whole frame ot our social structure. 

1858. May 29. — Two despatches from the State De- 
partment reached me on the subject of interference by 
British cruisers with our commerce in the West Indies 
and on the African coast, which may lead to important 
results. Have requested an interview with Lord Malmes- 
bury. 

1858. June 6. — Constant employment on the ques- 
tions pending with the Foreign Office has prevented 
me from making memoranda. The conduct of the 
British naval cruisers is intolerable, and creates great 
anxiety as to the relations of the two countries. The 
cases of the Cortes, the A. A. Chapman, the Mobile, the 



276 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Tropic Bird, and the comprehensive visitation of all our 
merchantmen in Sagua la Grande, connected with an 
arrogant general surveillance, make out a story of 
national outrage worse than anything heretofore ex- 
perienced. I regard the emergency as justifying, nay, 
requiring, instructions to the United States Minister at 
this Court to demand peremptory orders to British naval 
officers on every station to cease visiting American ves- 
sels, and if not given in a fortnight, to ask his passports 
and quit the kingdom. My conviction is that such a 
course would be successful, and that our relations of 
amity would at once be restored and strengthened. I 
am afraid we are not prepared for so resolute a proceed- 
ing, and that we might suffer much at first; but we 
should soon rise to the proper national elevation and 
strength, and be advanced a century in dignity and char- 
acter. The people at large never have faltered, and 
never will falter, in sustaining those who assert the inde- 
pendence and rights of their country. 

A kw days ago Sir E. B. Lytton accepted the Colo- 
nial Office, and Lord Stanley is transferred to the Presi- 
dency of the India Board of Control. The Ministry is 
becoming firmer and abler. It has a trump card in the 
American embroglio, which, if promptly and frankly 
played, will bind the Radicals permanently to them. 

1858. June 8. — I ought to mark this day with a white 
stone, for, after great anxiety and labour, with varying 
hopes and fears for more than a week, I have succeeded 
in effecting an arrangement with Lord Malmesbury, — 

1, that our construction of the law of nations, denying 
the right of visit and search in time of peace, is adopted ; 

2, that the aggressive acts complained of are, if true, 
wholly disavowed ; 3, that a mode of verifying a flag 



AT THE COURT OF ST JAMES. 2JJ 

hoisted by a merchantman shall be ascertained by nego- 
tiation alone ; and, 4, that the practice of search be at 
once discontinued under peremptory orders. The con- 
cessions are complete ; so much so that I should be un- 
able to realize their having been obtained, but for the 
" Minute" made in writing at my request by the Earl 
himself. 

1858. June 9. — The Queen's state ball to-night. I was 
felicitated by the whole of the Diplomatic Corps present 
upon the success of my efforts on the Right of Search 
question. Most of them profit by it. They knew the 
general results from a speech made by Lord Malmes- 
bury in the House of Lords. One of the Cabinet, Earl 
of Hardwicke, Privy Seal, engaged me for some time in 
conversation on the subject. He thought too much had 
been conceded, but said he was content, as no concession 
was bad which was necessary to prevent a war. 

1858. June 10. — Reception and dance at Lady Palmer- 
ston's. Had conversation with Stanley of Alderney, who 
seemed astonished when I gave an unqualified contradic- 
tion to the statement he borrowed from the Times, that 
slaves were sent into the United States from Cuba. I 
told him that was the way in which a bad cause was 
perpetually striving to bolster itself by inventions. 

1858. June 11. — Queen's levee. The Duke of Mala- 
koff presumed that I was now softened by disavowal and 
concession. " Oui," I replied, " beaucoup !" At night 
Lord Combermere's, to meet the Duchess of Cambridge, 
etc., and Mrs. Mansfield's at twelve. Told at Mrs. Mans- 
field's that Lord Malmesbury in the upper, and Mr. Dis- 
raeli in the lower, House, had announced another and 
signal diplomatic success, the Court of Naples having 
paid the demanded compensation of three thousand 



278 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

pounds to the two English engineers, and placed the 
Cagliari at the disposition of the Queen of England! 

1858. June 15. — The heat has been excessive for sev- 
eral days, and to-night it is so great that, at the Marquess 
of Camden's, it looked like insanity to be crushing and 
sweltering in crowds and dances ; yet all London seemed 
to be there. 

Made an engagement to receive the recently-arrived 
Venezuelan Minister, who has brought me a letter from 
our charge at Caraccas. The design of the interview I 
understand to be to enlist my good offices here against 
the extraordinary intervention made by the joint French 
and British naval commanders in favor of Monagas. 

1858. June 16. — Lansdowne House and the Lord Chan- 
cellor's. Lord Clarendon and Delane asked me simulta- 
neously the question, "Are you going to make war upon 
us?" I thought war seemed more imminent from the 
French armaments. 

1858. June 17. — Rumor of an attack by a British 
cruiser upon one of our vessels in the Gulf of Pensacola, 
and a seaman killed. If this prove true, we shall be at 
loggerheads soon ; and God speed the right. 

In the afternoon went to the House of Lords. The 
Bishop of Oxford presented a petition from Jamaica 
against the conduct of Spain as to the slave-trade. He 
introduced it with an able speech. He was followed by 
Brougham, Malmesbury, Aberdeen, Grey, etc. Lord 
Malmesbury distinct in stating that his arrangement with 
me, giving up visit and search, was after consultation 
with the law officers of the Crown. 

1858. June 18. — The New York Herald disproves the 
reported aggression off Pensacola, and represents the 
idea of war as blown over. There would appear to have 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 2"jg 

been great exaggeration in the accounts of outrage. It 
is, perhaps, owing to this discovery that I have had no 
new cases sent me from the State Department. The 
four or five received are far from being strong ones in 
incident or evidence. 

At the Queen's concert. An unusually numerous 
company. More than common display of plate in the 
supper-room, in consequence, I suppose, of the presence 
of the Belgian King, his daughter, the Duchess of Bra- 
bant, and his two sons. Quite unexpectedly to me, his 
Majesty singled me out of a group in which I was stand- 
ing, conversing with Lord Palmerston. He said, " You 
are doing a great deal of good at this Court. Two such 
great nations as the United States and England should 
not quarrel, but remove all causes of difference." He is 
certainly politically interested in preserving the general 
peace. 

1858. June 19. — Mr. Peabody gave us a dinner of 
sixty at the " Star and Garter" on Richmond Hill. An 
Englishman insisted upon toasting the President, and I 
was requested to respond, which I did in a short speech, 
concluding, "The Queen, and our own countrywomen." 

1858. June 21. — Princess's Theatre to see Charles Kean 
in " Shylock." The scenic contrivances to portray the 
peculiar structure and festivities of Venice were very 
effective and beautiful. The acting wanted power. 

1858. June 23. — Lord Mayor's dinner to her Majesty's 
Ministers. A company of about three hundred and fifty. 
All the Diplomatic Corps present except Bernstorff and 
Van de Weyer, who were commanded to the palace, 
and Tricoupi, who is in Paris. The pick of the Ministry 
were absent, — Derby, Disraeli, and Bulwer Lytton. The 
burthen of replying to the toast in honor of them fell 



28o DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

upon the Lord Chancellor. He was dreadfully tedious. 
The two Ambassadors made speeches ; that of Malakoff 
had French neatness and grace in it. Sir John Paking- 
ton, the Marquess of Salisbury, the Earl of Hardwicke, 
Mr. Walpole, and the Solicitor-General, Mr. Cairns, all 
spoke, and, with the exception of Pakington, made poor 
displays. I was prepared, if called up, with a decided 
expression of my confidence in the " friendly disposition, 
uniform courtesy, and frank international justice" of the 
existing Government. This would probably have done 
them more good than the vapid addresses delivered 
among themselves. One feature in their public oratory 
they ought to drop, — their servile flattery of their faithful 
ally. 

The pestiferous condition of the Thames much talked 
of. The smells thrown from the mud flats when the 
tide is out threaten to break up the sessions of Par- 
liament. 

1858. July 5. — Yesterday, the Fourth of July, was com- 
memorated for the first time, at a public dinner, by an 
association of Americans at London Tavern, in the city. 
The company was large, and remained together, speak- 
ing most tediously to toasts, until twelve at night. I 
thought the occasion a good one for announcing defi- 
nitely the cessation of visiting or searching our merchant 
vessels. 

Dined with the Duke of Newcastle; a brilliant and 
delightful company, — Lord Brougham, Earl Stanhope, 
Earl Grey, Lord Broughton, Bishop of Oxford, Sir 
Charles Wood, Lord Ashburton, Mr. Gladstone, etc. 

1858. July 7. — Dined with Lord Clancarty, William T. 
Le Poer Trench, an Irish peer of large landed estates, a 
Conservative; met there the Lord Chancellor. Two 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 28 1 

more suddenly spoiled persons by their elevation than 
Lord and Lady Chelmsford, it is difficult to find any- 
where. We can scarcely recognize, in their manner and 
conversation, those whom we liked. Honores mutant 
mores. 

1858. July 8. — For a day or two past the newspapers 
have been quite agreeable, as well as lively, about my 
remarks at the dinner on Monday, the 5th. There, of 
course, must be some to find fault, but I have not seen 
or heard of them. " Let him not know it, and he's not 
robbed at all." 

1858. July 11. — Dined yesterday with Mr. William R. 
Seymour Fitzgerald, under Secretary for Foreign Affairs. 
This gentleman, whose parentage is unnoticed, is, as he 
told me, in his forty-first year, was educated at Oriel 
College, Oxford, and is a Liberal Conservative. At table 
we had Lord Malmesbury, Sir John Pakington, Admiral 
Von Dorkum, Mr. Bidwell, etc. His collection of old 
English portraits — several large Vandykes — is attrac- 
tive. He had a gold snuff-box with the initials of C.J. 
on the lid, and some splendid porphyry vases, whose 
bases were similarly marked, which he said were pres- 
ents from Bernadotte. 

1858. July 12. — The House of Commons discussed the 
slave-trade to-night usque ad nauseam. In the course of 
the debate, Mr. Fitzgerald read an extract from a recent 
letter of Lord Napier, depicting the entire satisfaction of 
the Secretary of State with the " Minute." 

1858. July 14. — At the Russian Legation, the first en- 
tertainment, a ball, since Brunow's return to his former 
position. A most brilliant and crowded and hot assem- 
blage. I noticed an indication of changed politics some- 
what striking. In one of the rooms were recently hung 

25 



282 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

new and handsome full-length portraits in oil of Louis 
Napoleon and Eugenie. These little symptoms mark 
the progress of a disease quite as distinctly as avowals. 

Before going to Brunow's, went for an hour to the 
Duchess of Somerset's. Music — especially the delightful 
violin of the Swedish girl, Miss Humber. 

1858. July 17. — At Lord Palmerston's to dinner. 
Musurus, Cetto, Azeglio, Lords Shaftesbury, Wode- 
house, Ashley, were there ; Mr. J. P. Kennedy also. 
Lord and Lady Shaftesbury express themselves very 
strongly about the kind and hospitable manner in which 
their son, Mr. Ashley, has been received in America. I 
talked a good deal to Lord Wodehouse about St. Peters- 
burg, where he has been Minister for two years. A 
monument to the Emperor Nicholas is in progress, — a 
colossal central figure, and at each corner of the base 
one of the females of his family, — the Empress, Marie, 
Olga, and Alexandra. 

At eleven o'clock went to General Peel's, principal 
Secretary of State for War. He is the brother of the 
celebrated Sir Robert, who died by a fall from his horse 
in 1850, is a member from Huntingdon, and was born in 
1799. Has made very little figure in Parliament, but is 
highly respected for strong sense and strict integrity. A 
Tory, or rather a Conservative, of course. I here met 
for the first time M. Guizot. A small figure, white hair, 
and small crowning scratch, dressed in black, with a large 
star on his left breast, and much activity of manner. His 
eye remarkably fine and expressive. He boarded me at 
once with a compliment for my having so admirably re- 
moved the last source of quarrel between this country 
and the United States. He said he had tried the same 
thing while here as Envoy, but could accomplish nothing. 



AT THE COURT OF ST JAMES. 283 

I shall probably permanently consider this accidental 
meeting with Guizot as among the most agreeable 
casual incidents of my mission to London. However 
debatable he may be, he has, as a statesman and author, 
made a strong mark on his times. 

In the refreshment-room at General Peel's I noticed 
several large pieces of gold and silver plate. One was a 
silver shield, as large as that of Achilles, representing Wel- 
lington on the field of Waterloo ordering up the Guards 
for the final charge ; a rich specimen of art. 

1858. July 18. — The squadron which returned from 
the unsuccessful efforts to lay the Atlantic electric cable, 
has refitted with coal, etc., and quit again to-day for 
another attempt. 

1858. July 20. — Great preparations making for the Im- 
perial fetes at Cherbourg. These are to commemorate 
the inauguration of a monument to Napoleon I. and the 
completion of an important part of the naval fortification. 
Queen Victoria will "assist," accompanied by an im- 
posing fleet, and followed by her Ministers, many of her 
Lords, and a large body of her Commons. The French 
keep in the background the fact that on the same occa- 
sion they will open a railway from Paris to Cherbourg, 
which will enable them to disgorge in twelve hours on 
board of their immense steam squadron, for immediate 
transfer to the white cliffs of England, eighty or a hun- 
dred thousand soldiers. Is the Norman conquest destined 
to be re-enacted ? Strange that this frowning battlement, 
overlooking the channel as a permanent menace, should be 
flatteringly hailed by the courtesies of a British sovereign ! 
Is she struck with judicial blindness? 

1858. July 21. — Dined with the Attorney-General, Sir 
Fitzroy Kelly. Met the Earl of Hardwicke, Mr. Walpole, 



284 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Mr. Corry, Baron Bentinck, Sir H. Rawlinson, etc. ; in all 
about twenty-five. Sir Charles M. Burrell, the father of the 
House, fifty-two years a member. 

1858. July 26. — Mr. Mason, Mr. J. Van Buren, and 
others dined with us. I took the first to see the House 
of Lords, which he had never had an opportunity to visit. 
While engaged in pointing out to him the distinguished 
characters on the floor, Lord Lyndhurst rose, and, to my 
amazement more than my amusement, began a speech 
by quoting an extract from my remarks made at the 
London Tavern on the 5th of July. He proceeded to 
establish the American case on the right of visit and 
search in a manner at once lucid, logical, and conclu- 
sive; and he closed by some very kind and eulogistic 
reference to the " high character" I bore at home and 
had maintained here. I certainly am grateful for the 
good opinion of a man so crowned with years, wisdom, 
and universal reverence, but I felt awkwardly at being 
accidentally present. Mason was enchanted, and pro- 
nounced his argument as triumphant as it was simple, 
and commented especially upon his wonderful felicity 
in the selection and location of the very fittest words. 
Lyndhurst is in his eighty-seventh year, rises from his 
seat with difficulty, sees with uncertainty, shakes with 
every attempt to gesticulate, and yet is Nestor in the 
distinctness of his enunciation, — the calm, clear flow of 
his eloquence ! Both " Burke's Peerage" and the " Par- 
liamentary Companion" assign his birth to 1772, but 
ignore his place of nativity, — America. He has passed 
through the professional offices of Solicitor-General, 
Attorney- General, Master of the Rolls, Lord Chancel- 
lor thrice, and Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. 
His weight as a lawyer is preponderate. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 285 

1858. July 28. — The Times of to-day contains an ad- 
mirable editorial on the topic of Lord Lyndhurst's speech 
of Monday last. 

Dined with the Dowager Duchess of Somerset. Met Sir 
Fitzroy Kelly, the Attorney-General, General Sir William 
Williams, of Kars, etc. Much conversation about com- 
petitive examination preliminary to civil and military 
appointments, — General Williams for, Sir Fitzroy Kelly 
against. I asked if there was not the danger of pre- 
paratory cramming leading to advance memory alone, 
to the neglect of the other intellectual faculties. After 
dinner we had excellent and interesting music. The 
young Swedish girl played charmingly on the violin, 
a ravir. This, I am in hopes, will prove the last dining 
out of the present season. 

1858. August 1. — Received an interesting letter from 
our Minister to China. It shows him a thorough and 
firm pacificator : somewhat as such opposed in views 
and measures to Lord Elgin and Baron Gros, but closely 
in junction with Pontiatine. I am afraid, however, that 
the English and French Ministers understand the Chinese 
character better than he does, and that, by taking the forts 
at the mouth of the river and advancing nearer towards 
Pekin, they will have intimidated the Emperor to any 
treaty they dictate. He thinks that if the Chinese for- 
bear to fight, and only " retire," Elgin and Gros will be 
nonplussed. He accompanies them up the river, not- 
withstanding. 

1858. August 2. — Parliament was prorogued to-day at 
twelve m. by commission. 

1858. August 4. — A sort of maelstrom current has set 
from all quarters towards Cherbourg. The Emperor 
and Empress left Paris yesterday en route. The Pera, 

25* 



286 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

a steamer engaged for the purpose, goes freighted with 
a hundred members of the House of Commons. The 
Royal flotilla, headed by the Albert, goes at three to- 
day. The weather looks unpromising and rain threatens. 

1858. August 5. — The news of the day is unexpected 
and inspiriting. The Atlantic telegraph is announced 
as a success ! The Agamemnon is at Valentia, and 
the Niagara in Trinity Bay, both engaged in fastening 
their shore ends of the cable. Yesterday the stock of 
the company was at two hundred or three hundred 
pounds, to-day it has risen to eight hundred or one 
thousand pounds ! 

We paid to-day our second visit to Hampton Court, 
and spent three hours in re-examining the paintings. 
The gallery has many points of great interest. The 
cartoons of Raphael, the Holbeins, the Lelys, the Van- 
dykes, the Titians, the Wests are exceedingly attractive. 
We lunched at the King's Arms. Went to the grape- 
vine, a wonder of ninety years of age, spreading from a 
single trunk, and covering the ceiling of a large glass 
house with clusters of fruit ; and we closed by a walk in 
Bushy Park, amid hundreds of sporting children and 
several crowded picnic-parties under the famous horse- 
chestnuts. 

1858. August']. — The success of the Atlantic cable is 
beyond a doubt. Communications will be delayed by 
the necessity of putting up the speaking machinery sent 
out from this country. The delay may extend to three 
weeks. Should there be a snap in the meanwhile, the 
operators will be charged with a system of fraudulent 
misrepresentation to raise their stock. It would have 
been discreet to withhold their announcement until an 
actual public or private message had come from America. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 287 

1858. August 10. — All the English visitors to Cher- 
bourg have returned. Some rather discontented. This 
exhibition of Imperial success and power will not 
rivet the alliance any closer. The speech of Louis 
Napoleon, wherein he said that the question of the 
freedom of the seas had just received a pacific solution, 
imports to my mind a purpose of persevering in his 
plan of getting labor for his colonies by shipping 
African negroes as hired freemen, and of his adhesion 
to the American determination of allowing no inter- 
ference with the flag. Unless he meant this, he vented 
a commonplace, which he is not apt to do. Mr. Ralston, 
Consul-General of Liberia, who, with a Mr. Pugh, vis- 
ited me to-day, told me that the Emperor had manifested 
great indignation at the manner in which the Liberians 
had meddled with the Regina Cceli, and had retracted 
the promise of a man-of-war as a present. In endeav- 
ouring to explain to me the imputation upon the func- 
tionaries of the black republic, of having received fees for 
permitting the alleged labourers to go on board the Re- 
gina Cceli, Mr. Ralston was rather hesitating and obscure, 
making it out, as well as I could seize his idea, to be in 
conformity with pre-existing regulations, which, in order 
to protect the negroes from fraudulent deportation, re- 
quired each of them to be supplied with a passport from 
Monrovia. So that, in fact, under the appearance of 
guarding the negroes, the Government exacted a fee of 
fifty cents on each passport, and then the deportation 
was legalized ! It might be that the intention was good, 
and that an opportunity of overlooking any shipment 
was thus reserved to the public authorities ; but, in 
practice, it could not fail to become a facility to slave- 
trading, as the case of the Regina Cceli showed. 



288 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

The Queen left in her yacht, Gravesend, to-day, on 
her way to Berlin to see her daughter, the Princess 
Frederick William. 

1858. August 15. — The fete-day of Louis Napoleon 
was celebrated to-day by a dinner at the embassy. We 
were twenty-eight at table. The English guests were 
Lord Derby, Lord Chelmsford, Lord Wellington, Lord 
De la Warr, and Mr. Fitzgerald. The Diplomatic Corps 
was thin : the Turk, the Belgian, the Dutchman, the 
Bavarian, the Swede, and temporary charges from 
Greece, Spain, Portugal. The host played the rough 
soldier pretty broadly. We had all assembled and 
waited for fifteen minutes before he made his appear- 
ance, bringing with him a piece of paper which he held 
out, exclaiming, "Pardon, pardon, j'ecrivais mon toast!" 
At the close of the dinner he stood up, nodded to Lord 
Derby, his vis-a-vis, and began an address introductory 
of his toast to the Queen, but suddenly stopped, exclaim- 
ing, "Bah! je lis mieux que je ne parle!" and, seizing 
his manuscript, read it through. The reply of the 
Premier in honour of the Emperor was in French, and 
exceedingly neat; professing, however, rather too much 
unction of devotion to the alliance. The Marshal called 
across the table to tell me an anecdote as to one of our 
Ministers in Paris during the Directory. He was desired 
to give a toast, and did so by proposing " a la sante du 
Beau Sexe des deux hemispheres !" whereupon a French 
general proposed a transposition, thus, " a la sante des 
deux hemispheres du beau sexe !" This is the Marshal's 
monomania. Lord Wellington told me that recently, at 
an evening party, while standing behind a lady whose 
shoulders were unusually disclosed and beautiful, Pelis- 
sier put his hand on one of them ; the lady turned in ex- 



AT THE COURT 0J< ST. JAMES. 289 

treme indignation : whereupon he cried, " Pardon, pardon, 

je croyais que vous etiez la comtesse de W !" There 

was after dinner company, and I had a long conversa- 
tion with Major Fitzmaurice about his newly-invented 
light. 

1858. August 17. — I received this morning from Va- 
lentia the telegraphic message that her Majesty's letter 
to the President had been transmitted to Newfoundland 
and repeated back correctly. It consisted of ninety-nine 
words, and was repeated back in sixty-seven minutes ! 
Wonderful and sublime ! A word launched in America 
shoots through the depths of the Atlantic, and meets 
the eye, more than two thousand miles off, in a minute 
and a half! Went at the invitation of Major Fitzmaurice 
to witness the trial of his newly-invented life-light. We 
assembled at the Barracks in Hyde Park, and were most 
courteously welcomed and entertained by Colonel Parker 
in his handsome quarters. The power of the light is in 
comparison with the Drummond light as ten to seven. 
When in its full glare, it emits an effulgence equal to 
fourteen hundred gaslights. The machine is portable 
readily, and the stem whence the light comes is hardly 
the size of one's little finger. Yet, without the aid of 
reflectors, carried as one would carry a wax-candle, it 
affords an intensity of light too much for the eye. 
Major Fitzmaurice says that one of its chief recommen- 
dations is its cheapness, another its fixedness, another its 
long continuance, and another its indestructibility by 
water. It was magnificently tested at Cherbourg, throw- 
ing its brilliancy from a mile off upon the Emperor and 
Empress on board the Bretagne. and illuminating their 
track as they went ashore. Nothing would seem so 
admirable for lighting up from the shore a wreck, for 



29O DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

penetrating the fogs on our Newfoundland banks, for 
beacons, and for police purposes. 

1858. August 18. — Visited at the French Gallery in 
Pall Mall the two celebrated paintings of Millais and 
Hunt, "The Royal Fugitive concealed in the hollow 
oak" and " The Light of the World." They are very 
striking; and the latter is, no doubt, what Mr. Ruskin's 
criticism terms it, the finest specimen of Pre-Raphaelite 
ever executed. Yet, I don't take to so much elaboration 
of design, detail, and colour. Christ is represented as 
carrying a lantern by the left hand, and knocking with 
his right at a hard and tightly-closed door. The lamp 
sheds a brilliant and peculiar light, the light of con- 
science, with which the Saviour wishes to illuminate the 
inaccessible man within. He is clothed in white, with a 
coronet sharply angular, and a cloak, both the coronet 
and cloak profusely and most minutely jewelled and 
ornamented. His countenance is at once penetrating, 
placid, and attractive. 

1858. August 19. — Received from Mr. Lampson and 
Mr. Saward what they represented to be the President's 
telegraphic reply to the Queen's message. It was sealed, 
and externally addressed to her Majesty. Fortunately, 
I made some inquiries as to the exact contents ; and 
discovered that, in translating the electric expressions, 
they had made the reply assume the character of a 
message from " the city of Washington to Queen Vic- 
toria," although it was signed " James Buchanan." I 
insisted upon the seal being broken and the necessary 
correction made; Mr. Saward confessing that the 
blunder had struck him as singular, but that he had 
concluded that it was a peculiarity of Presidential inter- 
communication. Could anything be more ridiculous 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 29I 

and absurd than this? I delivered the reply to Lord 
Derby, and he is to transmit it by courier to Potsdam, 
and in the mean time by telegraph to obtain the Queen's 
consent to the publication of the correspondence. 

1858. August 20. — Mr. Fitzgerald, by a private note, 
informs me that the Queen wishes her message to the 
President published ; by this I suppose it is meant that 
the Foreign Office will make the publication. Be it so, 
quacumque via data. 

1858. August 21. — The steamship Europa has had a 
collision with the Arabia, which left here on the 7th 
inst., off Cape Race; and the morning papers all contain 
the announcement of the facts, together with the assur- 
ance of " no loss of life or limb." These are beautiful 
first fruits of the Atlantic telegraphic cable, forestalling 
all anxieties and fears ! 

1858. August 23. — The following telegraphic messages 
appear in the papers of this morning. They were inter- 
changed on the 1 8th and 19th instants. 

" From Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain to His 
Excellency the President of the United States. 

" The Queen desires to congratulate the President 
upon the successful completion of this great international 
work, in which the Queen has taken the greatest interest. 
The Queen is convinced that the President will join with 
her in fervently hoping that the electric cable which 
now already connects Great Britain with the United 
States will prove an additional link between the two 
nations, whose friendship is founded upon their common 
interest and reciprocal esteem. The Queen has much 
pleasure in thus directly communicating with the Presi- 
dent, and in renewing to him her best wishes for the 
prosperity of the United States." 



292 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

The following is the President's reply to the fore- 
going: 

" The President of the United States to Her Majesty 
Victoria, Queen of Great Britain. 

Washington City. 

" The President cordially reciprocates the congratula- 
tions of Her Majesty the Queen on the success of the 
great international enterprise accomplished by the skill, 
science, and indomitable energy of the two countries. 
It is a triumph more glorious, because far more useful 
to mankind, than was ever won by a conqueror on the 
field of battle. May the Atlantic telegraph, under the 
blessing of Heaven, prove to be a bond of perpetual 
peace and friendship between the kindred nations, and 
an instrument destined by Divine Providence to diffuse 
religion, civilization, liberty, and law throughout the 
world. In this view will not all the nations of Christen- 
dom spontaneously unite in the declaration that it shall 
be forever neutral, and that its communications shall be 
held sacred in passing to the place of their destination, 
even in the midst of hostilities ?" 

1858. August 24. — Had a long and interesting visit 
from Lord Brougham. He was born in 1778, and is, 
therefore, eighty years of age ; and yet he conversed 
with the ardour and energy of a man of forty. He was 
made a peer in 1830. I told him that I had met him at 
the table of Alexander Baring (since Lord Ashburton) 
forty-four years ago. He remembered the dinner and 
Mr. Gallatin. He said I reminded him of what occurred 
between Metternich and himself two or three years since ; 
they were introduced, and he (B.) expressed his delight 
at meeting one whom he long desired the honour of 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 293 

knowing. " Why," said M., " I have known you these 
forty years." "How's that? how's that?" asked B. 
"Why, you came to see the Congress of Vienna, and do 
you remember a young man, with slim legs and light- 
blue stockings, who was amazingly busy?" " Perfectly," 
said B. "Well," replied M., "that was me!" Much 
conversation about the slave-trade. He pronounced the 
claim to visit or search utterly inconsistent with funda- 
mental and universal principles of international law. But 
he hoped some mode of verifying the flag would be found 
out and agreed to. " Why not put an end to the trade 
by passing Cuba over to the United States?" "Well," 
he said, " it might come to that." " As to domestic 
servitude, your Lordship is aware that its cessation in 
the United States must be the slow effect of time." 
" Certainly, certainly; your wisest men of 1787 put it 
under the safeguard of your Constitution; and you can't 
get rid of it without consequences more dreadful than 
the thing itself." Lord Brougham expressed serious 
apprehensions as to the state of things in France ; and 
regarded this continued sending of squadrons of suspects 
to Cayenne as fatal to the Imperial dynasty. He said he 
had asked Malakoff and Fould about it, but they could 
only say that it was not the act of Napoleon himself, 
but of those who conceived that to be a way of ingra- 
tiating themselves. 

1858. September 20. — These memoranda have been 
interrupted for nearly a month. During the summer 
and the recess of Parliament, public affairs seem to be- 
come flat, and a desire to escape the city disperses one's 
associates to watering-places and travel. 

We went to Tunbridge Wells on the 31st of August, 
and returned on the 10th of September. Our stay was 

26 



294 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

at the Mount Ephraim Hotel, on an elevated plane 
which overlooked the entire town and all the public 
promenades. The weather was unfavourable for a week, 
constant rains and much unseasonable cold. We visited 
the beautiful residence of Alderman Solomons, called 
Broom Hill, and drove out daily in search of the lovely 
and picturesque in scenery, finding no end to it. 

From the day of my return to Tuesday the 14th inst, 
I was exercised in preparing a reply to a most intem- 
perate note from Lord respecting the case of the 

Caroline captured by the Alecto. I have quietly shown 
up his Lordship's folly, without for an instant jeopard- 
ing the interests in my hands. 

1858. September 30. — Went to Mr. T. Baring's country 
residence in Hants, Norman Court, on the 21st inst., 
and stayed till Saturday the 25th. When the train 
stopped at Bishopstoke, I met Lord Palmerston on the 
platform; and, after inquiring where I was going, he 
insisted upon our visiting him at Broadlands. Lady 
Palmerston followed this up by writing an exceedingly 
kind invitation to us at Norman Court. The result is 
that, though we had to return to London first, we go to 
Broadlands this afternoon. 

1858. October 4. — Returned from Broadlands. Lord 
Shaftesbury, the Dean of Winchester, Mr. Campion, the 
Rev. Mr. Harris (Lord Malmesbury's brother), Mr. 
Panizzi, etc. I beat Lord Palmerston at billiards and at 
partridge-shooting. The comet, brilliant beyond meas- 
ure, in front of the main colonnade every evening at 
about eight o'clock. 

1858. October 16. — Mr. Robert Dale Owen, our late 
Minister at Naples, called on me two days ago. He is 
extravagantly pleased with the life he led and the influ- 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 295 

ence he exercised at Court. He has become a confirmed 
and methodical spiritualist, having prepared a volume 
for publication on the subject, and having carefully 
noted in folio blank-books his " Personal Observations" 
and experiences. He is a man of some talent, but wants 
ballast. I told him of the result of my conversation with 
Buhver Lvtton that morning. Sir Edward thought that, 
being now in the Ministry, it would be indiscreet in him 
to carry out the project, settled a year ago, of having an 
interview with Mr. Owen at Knebworth, on spiritualism. 
He said, "Suppose he waits till we are out? Specula- 
tion must now give way to practical matters." I agreed 
in the judiciousness of the decision; and so did Mr. 
Owen, though perhaps a little personally mortified. 

Sir Edward and I had a plate of politics. He is 
rather desponding at the Ministerial prospect; thinks 
the prejudices against the ballot are too strong to be 
overcome; that the agricultural voters cannot consent to 
be swamped by the towns, and that, on the whole, their 
reform bill must lead to dangers. He asked me if I had 
ever seen anything so remarkable " as the melting away 
of Palmerston ?" " Not so," said I ; " he was suddenly 
prostrated by a bolt which was unexpected ; to be sure, 
his great popularity had waned from a variety of causes ; 
but he was still strong, and, if the Cabinet did not take 
care to attack the party below the gangway, he would 
one of these days upset them just as they had upset 
him. Yield the ballot and enlarge the constituency; 
if you don't, your power must cease." 

I spoke to Sir Edward, as Colonial Minister, about the 
wish of our Consul at Malta, William Winthrop, that 
the etiquette of that island, founded upon the Court 
rule here, which excludes from invitations to the Gov- 



296 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

ernor's those ladies who have been divorced, should, if 
possible, be surmounted in favour of Mrs. Winthrop, 
whose first husband was long deceased, who had married 
the Consul ten years ago, and had so become almost 
thoroughly American. It was, of course, not a public 
matter; but he, Sir Edward, might effect Mr. Winthrop's 
natural wish by expressing a casual sentiment on the 
subject. He promised to think of it, but observed " Our 
relations with our Colonies are improving, and we are 
cautious not to interfere with their local arrangements 
and feelings." 

I see it announced in a morning paper of to-day that 
" The Minister of the United States had an interview 
at the Colonial office yesterday with Sir E. B. Lytton," 
— an announcement which misleads the imagination. 

Mr. Owen, since leaving Naples, has been travelling 
on the Continent, and was kind enough to say that my 
residence in England had been marked by two incidents 
which produced a powerful impression in favour of 
America, — to wit, my remaining here when Crampton 
was dismissed from Washington, and the suddenly ob- 
tained renunciation of the right of visit and search. 

The Atlantic cable has been incapable ever since the 
2d of September, and I see no hope for it. The dis- 
missal of Whiteside by the company, and the contro- 
versies among the electricians (still fiercely raging), are 
mistakes hardly surmountable. 

The Duke of Malakoff reached his Embassy at Albert 
Gate House last evening, bringing with him the Countess 
Paniega, whom he married in the presence of the Im- 
perial Court on Tuesday, the 21st instant. 

1858. October 18. — Received very cheering letters from 
home. Ihadsentacopyofmyreply to Lord Malmesbury's 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 297 

impudent note about " Her Majesty's captains who visit 
suspected vessels." I have felt anxious lest it should 
be thought, first, too bitter; second, too tame. It ap- 
pears to have given satisfaction. Markoe tells me that 
General Cass was " delighted with its tone of rebuke ; 
thinks it admirable and American, and exclaimed, ' I am 
the last man on earth that would fail to sustain him.'" 
Markoe adds, " Your weapon is as polished as it is 
sharp." I hate and condemn these diplomatic em- 
broglios which endanger public relations and business; 
but not to answer would have been offensively con- 
temptuous, and no answer compatible with dignity and 
truth, however courteously worded, could avoid an ap- 
pearance of severity. Malmesbury has had it for more 
than a month, and I suppose means to let the matter 
rest where it is. Possibly he is chewing the cud and in- 
tends another fling. Well, now that I have heard from 
home, I am indifferent what he does. 

At the Zoological Gardens yesterday we met Pelissier 
and his bride. She is very handsome, and he seems 
overwhelmed with his good luck. 

The difficulty between France and Portugal about the 
" Charles et Georges," it is thought, will be adjusted. Na- 
poleon will carry out his Free-Black Emigration scheme, 
leaving England to bully as loudly as she likes. It is 
rather sad to see her, in defiance of obvious right and 
justice, cower at the firmness of Walewski, and surren- 
der to his tender mercies her oldest but feeblest ally. 
Walewski peremptorily, it is said, refused to have Eng- 
land as a mediator ! 

1858. October 21. — Parliament went through the form 
of prorogation yesterday to the 19th of November, 
when a second prorogation will take place, because, in 

26* 



298 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

this one, the words " for the despatch of business" were 
omitted. The Queen and her cavalcade reached Wind- 
sor Castle last night from Balmoral. 

The Prussian Chambers were opened by the newly 
constituted Regent yesterday. Spiteful criticisms upon 
Mr. Reed's Chinese diplomacy in the Times. He is 
treated with Bennett's favourite epithet towards Presi- 
dent Pierce, and contemptuously termed "poor Reed." 
To me it is quite obvious that this, though certainly not 
direct from Lord Elgin, is the echo of his angry senti- 
ments. Reed seems to me to have adroitly accomplished 
all that his instructions authorized or permitted. He 
was, perhaps, not sufficiently careful to avoid provoking 
jealousy and ill will. 

1S58. October 24. — A note from Lord Malmesbury, say- 
ing that he would " be glad to have the pleasure" of 
seeing me at four to-morrow. This denotes a wish to 
bury the hatchet, and it is neither my policy nor my 
principle to repel an advance. 

A Jewish child, eight years of age, has been secretly 
baptized by his Christian nurse, and is now claimed and 
kidnapped from his parents by the Roman Catholic 
priests at Bologna. The Pope refuses to order his res- 
toration. The incident is producing immense excite- 
ment in France and elsewhere. The boy's name is 
Mortara. 

1858. October 31. — Mr. Bright has been making two 
remarkable speeches to his constituents at Birmingham. 
They are such as a Gracchus might have made at Rome. 
Mr. Bright loves his country warmly, but he hates with 
equal warmth her institutions and policy. He lets the 
Crown alone, but openly denounces the House of Lords, 
the " adulterous " Bench of Bishops, (that is, as I under- 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 299 

stand it, a clergy professing to be wedded to the church, 
and yet revelling in political prostitution,) and the un- 
representing and misrepresenting Commons. He is 
particularly bitter upon the established spirit of aggres- 
sion in other countries, — a spirit fostered by the nobles 
and unworking classes, in order to secure places, and lead- 
ing to a frightful and pauperizing waste of treasure and 
life. I do not remember in English history such out- 
spoken democracy as this. The great intellect, recog- 
nized integrity, sincere earnestness, and powerful oratory 
of John Bright cannot fail to produce a deep impression 
even on the present corrupt and lethargic generation 
of Englishmen. He makes hosts of enemies, of course; 
but on these he must have calculated. No great princi- 
ples of national reform (take that of Free Trade) can be 
made to triumph, unless some one of its advocates is 
self-sacrificing enough to break a phalanx of its foes by 
concentrating upon himself their sharpest spears. 

In the settlement of the affair of the " Charles et 
Georges" between France and Portugal, there is no loss 
of character except by England. Superior force com- 
pelled Portugal to yield ; and that force was exerted 
to sustain and vindicate the avowed Free-Black Emi- 
gration policy of the Emperor; but England, without a 
murmur, sees a national ally and protegee beaten to the 
earth for standing by a course and doctrine she incul- 
cated and still professes to maintain against the world ! 
"Call ye this backing your friends!" The Spectator 
of yesterday is so mortified by the effect of the alliance 
with France, that it boldly announces that alliance at 
an end ! 

1858. November 9. — Went last night to Lady Malmes- 
bury's reception. La Marechale, Duchess of Malakoff, 



300 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

bride of Pelissier, and Ambassadress of France, was the 
star of the evening. A handsome, luxuriant Spanish 
figure, with quiet, attractive manners. 

Mr. Bright spent an hour with me. He had two 
things upon his mind: i, to ascertain what I thought 
was the disposition of the Ministry upon Reform, and, 2, 
to broach a proposal of enlisting the pen of Mr. Henry 
D. Gilpin on certain points of fact as to the cause of our 
progress and contentment. I gather from what he said 
that there is not much hope of a satisfactory reform bill 
being offered by the present government. 

1858. November 14. — The general political calm has 
been disturbed by the supposed indiscretion of the 
French Emperor in causing a prosecution to be insti- 
tuted against Count Montalembert for his essay in the 
Correspondent. It is an eloquent, learned, and here and 
there pungent paper; but it is an elaborate eulogy of 
everything English as compared with everything French. 
It will gall the self-esteem of Frenchmen beyond bear- 
ing, and probably make popular, not merely the criminal 
pursuit of the Count, but Napoleon's merciless smother- 
ing of the press. Sir Henry Holland says that Lord 
Aberdeen condemns the prosecution as extremely wrong, 
and don't know what may not be the consequence. The 
Examiner of yesterday terms it the " madness of despo- 
tism." In Charles the Tenth's time it might have brought 
up the barricades. But at this day the Gamins de Paris 
won't fight to vindicate a nobleman who praises England. 
The Times makes the matter worse for the Count by 
exultingly devoting four or five columns daily to its 
publication. 

So Louis Napoleon, after trampling upon Portugal, 
suddenly shifts his position and truckles to England by 






AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 301 

surrendering his plan of Free Emigrants from Africa to 
his West Indies islands ! His letter to Prince Jerome of 
the 30th of October, just published, is an incident,//'////^ 
impressionis, on the great international chess-board, and 
merits special preservation as a feat of audacious vacil- 
lation. 

St. Cloud, October 30. 

My Dear Cousin, — I have the liveliest desire that, at the moment 
when the difference with Portugal relative to the Charles et Georges has 
terminated, the question of the engagement of free labourers on the African 
coast should be definitively examined and finally settled on the truest 
principles of humanity and justice. 

I energetically claimed from Portugal the restitution of the Charles et 
Georges, because I always maintain intact the independence of the na- 
tional flag; and, in this case, it was only with the profound conviction of 
my right that I risked, with the King of Portugal, a rupture of those 
friendly relations which I am glad to maintain with him. 

But as to the principle of the engagement of the negroes, my ideas are 
far from being settled. If, in truth, labourers recruited on the African 
coast are not allowed the exercise of their free will, and if this enrolment 
is only the slave-trade in disguise, I will have it on no terms ; for it is not 
I who will anywhere protect enterprises contrary to progress, to human- 
ity, and to civilization. 

I beg you, then, to seek out the truth with the zeal and intelligence 
which you bring to bear on all affairs which you take in hand : and, as 
the best method of putting an end to what is a continual cause of dilute 
would be to substitute the free labour of Indian Coolies for that of ne- 
groes, I beg you to come to an understanding with the Minister of For- 
eign Affairs, to resume with the English Government the negotiations 
which were entered upon a few months ago. 

Whereon, my dear cousin, I pray God to have you in His holy keeping. 

Napoleon. 

1858. November 25. — Count Montalembert was tried 
yesterday before a tribunal of the Correctional Police 
and, of course, convicted. He was accused of libelling 
France, the Emperor, Universal Suffrage, etc. The 
"paroles foudroyantes" of Berryer defended him. He 



302 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

seems to have borne himself calmly and firmly. He is 
sentenced to an imprisonment of six months and a fine 
of three thousand francs. The tone of the judges shows 
a consciousness that the prosecution is rather popular 
than otherwise, as its victim is " un ami enrage des An- 
glais." The Times articles are admirable, but Englishmen 
are incapable of realizing how much they are hated 
beyond the channel. 

Had a long and interesting interview with Lord 
Malmesbury at the Foreign Office. 

1858. December 6. — Nothing worth noting for some 
days back, unless it be the penal game of chess playing 
by the Emperor and Montalembert. His Majesty issued 
a pardon ; making it, however, bear the sting of an epi- 
gram by dating it on the 2d of December, the anniversary 
of the coup d'etat, when he seized the government with 
the approval and aid of Montalembert. The Count, 
however, replies by saying that there was nothing to par- 
don, as he had filed his appeal within the time limited, re- 
jects the grace, and insists upon his right to prove that no 
criminal offence was set forth in the written accusation, 
or indictment, against him. The Court of Appeal would, 
I think, be bound to dismiss the matter, as leaving 
nothing for correction ; but to that end the motion of the 
procureur imperial, or Attorney-General, exhibiting the 
record or decree of pardon, might be necessary to inform 
the Court; and it is said that, in order to make the 
Count's course ridiculous, the Procureur will abstain from 
doing anything, leaving him to combat with a shadow. 
If the Count pleads the case himself with the boldness 
and ability he has already manifested, he may yet turn 
the laugh upon Napoleon, or he may force them to make 
him the martyr he evidently desires to be. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 303 

1858. December 17. — The Times of this morning 
contains a letter written by the President to the Com- 
mittee managing the celebration of the Centennial anni- 
versary of the occupancy of Forts Duquesne and Pitt. 
To Americans in Europe, official or otherwise, this is a 
very painful letter, coming from the chief magistrate of 
their country. The spirit is one of despondency as to the 
permanency of the Union and the destiny of the Repub- 
lic. As there are secrets between man and wife which 
cannot be conversed about without stimulating the 
gossip and slander of their neighbors, so there are defec- 
tive points in the manners and practices of a portion of 
every people which, however anxious to correct them, 
should never undergo exposition in the face of nations 
eager to condemn all indiscriminately. It may be true 
that our noisy politicians have a vicious habit of threat- 
ening disunion, and that in the populous cities money is 
partially used to corrupt voters, but it certainly is not 
true that the affection of the great body of citizens to the 
Union is impaired; on the contrary, it is warmer and 
firmer now than it ever was, and it certainly is not true 
that the alleged employment of money has extended 
beyond a very contracted and really insignificant range. 
The President has been wounded by the recent victories 
of his adversaries, and has volunteered a sharp arrow 
to the quiver of the enemies of popular institutions in 
Europe. See what the first man of the nation tells and 
foresees of the model Republic ! It would be nothing as 
the gloomy speculation of a private croaker, but from 
the President it is dreadful. Already our constant calum- 
niators exclaim, " There ! there is the proof of all we 
have said !" 

It is averred with positiveness that the commission to 



304 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

whom the letter of the French Emperor was referred, 
with a view to determine the justice or wrong of the 
Free-Black Emigration system, have reported emphati- 
cally in its favour. 

1858. December 19. — The message arrived this even- 
ing. It is very long, but remarkably lucid, and can be 
read at full gallop. Its characteristics as to policy are 
firmness as to foreign nations and enterprise in domestic 
movement. How useless, impolitic, and out of taste are 
the opening remarks concerning Kansas ! The rest of 
the paper, except, perhaps, the recommendation of specific 
instead of ad valorem duties, of which his local interests 
should have made him jealous, is in the highest degree 
creditable and satisfactory. His mention, of the fact that 
this country, after insisting upon it for more than fifty 
years, has now renounced the right of search and visit, 
connected with the necessary publication of my corre- 
spondence showing that this renunciation was achieved 
by me alone, without instructions to that purpose, is 
abundantly sufficient for any personal love of reputation 
I can have. Diplomatic service can give me n.o addi- 
tional feather. 

1858. December 22. — The argument on Count Mon- 
talembert's appeal was heard and decided yesterday. 
It was opened by Dufaure, who was followed for the 
prosecution by the Procureur-General ; then came 
Berryer; and the Procureur closed the case. This does 
not give the affirmative to the appellant, and is not the 
logical order of discussion. The judgment of the Police 
Correctional Court was affirmed ; but the Count was 
pronounced not guilty of attacking the principle of 
universal suffrage or the constitutional rights of the 
Emperor, and his sentence as to imprisonment was 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 305 

mitigated from six to three months, the fine of three 
thousand francs remaining undisturbed. It would seem 
that the game of chess has gone against him. 

1858. December 30. — Louis Napoleon has resolved on 
checkmating the Count. The Moniteur contains a full 
pardon both of him and the publisher Duriol. 

Accounts are received of a peaceful but effectual 
revolution in Servia on the 22d inst. The Schupkina 
has deposed Prince Alexander Kara George, and rein- 
stated the banished Milosch Obrenowitch. This is a 
local sovereignty proceeding with which Turkey, Aus- 
tria, and France will hardly be satisfied. It is thought 
to be the product of Russian intrigue and gold. 

1859. January '-3. — The first flash of lightning precur- 
sive of the storm has startled everybody. The French 
Emperor, at his levee held on the 1st inst, addressed 
the following to Hubner, the Austrian Minister, with 
marked excitement and emphasis : " Je regrette que nos 
relations avec votre gouvernement ne soient aussi bonnes 
que par le passe ; mais je vous prie de dire a l'Empereur 
que mes sentiments pour lui ne sont pas changes." Mar- 
shal Vaillant, who was by, followed it up by adding to 
the Minister, "After that, I suppose I am not at liberty 
to shake hands with you." This sudden revelation of 
the purpose as to Italy is justly likened to the conduct 
of Napoleon I. towards the British Minister just before 
the breach of the treaty of Amiens." 

1859. January 28. — A telegram received at Windsor 
Castle six minutes after the event announced yesterday 
that the Princess Frederick William was safely delivered 
of a son at three that day. We attended the wedding a 
year and two days ago. 

1859. January 31. — The war slowly, but, I think, 

27 



306 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

steadily, approaches. Yesterday Prince Napoleon mar- 
ried Clothilde, Victor Emanuel's daughter, and thus the 
alliance of France and Sardinia becomes riveted. The 
Prince brings his bride to Paris at once. They left Turin 
for Genoa in the afternoon of the wedding-day. 

Lord Lyons called and promised to dine with me this 
day week. 

1859. February 3. — The Queen opened Parliament at 
two p.m. to-day. The ceremony was, of course, in all 
its features a repetition of what I have described under 
date of 3d of December, 1857. Her Majesty was graver, 
though dressed perhaps more brilliantly. I think the 
immense Koh-i-noor was on her bosom, her crown was 
a mass of huge diamonds, and her crimson velvet pelisse, 
trimmed with ermine, had no end to its train; she re- 
quired for easy movement the aid of the Duchess of 
Manchester and Beaufort and of two pages. Lord 
Derby appeared considerably exercised in holding per- 
pendicularly the Great Sword of State. The speech was 
somewhat beyond the customary length. It insists upon 
maintaining inviolate the faith of treaties ; among which, 
of course, are those of the Holy Alliance of 18 15, which 
parcelled to Austria her possessions in Italy ; it avows 
orders for hostilities against Mexico ; and it inculcates 
Parliamentary reform, and a reconstruction of the navy. 
Not a word about diminutive America! 

My colleagues of the diplomatic body welcomed me 
when I went among them with more than their usual 
manifestation of warmth. They kept shaking hands for 
a minute or two. I had myself introduced to Isturitz, 
and to Jose Santiago Rodrigues, the Venezuelan. 
Bishop Mcllvaine and daughter were my special guests, 
comfortably seated in the north gallery. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 307 

In the evening escorted Miss Burgwin and Julia to 
the House of Lords. Address to the Queen discussing. 
Lord Granville applauded the policy of the speech, 
though he taunted Lord Malmesbury with not ven- 
turing to touch upon the United States. Lord Derby 
made a clear, bold, and forcible statement of Ministerial 
system, especially anti-Napoleonic and pro-Austrian in 
connection with a possible war. Parliamentary unani- 
mity against him may possibly arrest the enterprise of 
the French Emperor. 

1859. February 4. — The day devoted to home de- 
spatches. The Times makes this morning an annoying 
blunder about my cordially shaking hands at the open- 
ing of Parliament with the Minister of Hayti, although 
a man of colour. The poor fellow was not present at 
all, and I have never interchanged a recognition or word 
with him. He is, as I have often noticed, a very well- 
behaved mulatto, about whom I would never dream of 
doing or saying an unkind thing. 

1859. February 5. — A tremendous pamphlet just out 
in Paris! It is obviously the offspring of Imperial in- 
spiration. Nothing could be more like the " Idees Na- 
poleoniennes." Its title is " Napoleon III et l'ltalie." 
It inculcates with remarkable power and distinctness the 
necessity of preserving the peace of Europe by insisting 
diplomatically, and, if need be militarily, upon the with- 
drawal of Austria from Lombardy, and the construction 
of an Italian Confederation of Nationalities. It opens 
by a distinct declaration of aversion to the treaties of 
1815; no wonder, for they are the monuments of the 
degradation of France and of the Bonaparte dynasty by 
the Holy Alliance. This splendid manifesto is obviously 
meant as a semi-official prelude to a great drama. 



308 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Dined with Captain Schenley, who married the rich 
heiress, granddaughter of old " O'Hara," of Pittsburg. 
The Prestons, father, mother, and daughter, and attache 
Haviland, were at table. So was Admiral Courtenay. 

At eleven o'clock went to the Marquis of Salisbury's, 
the first Ministerial reception of the season. Lord John 
Russell quite marked in his graciousness; long talk with 
mine host, who seemed terrified at my conviction that 
war was inevitable. " But how then are the disasters of 
a new despotism and usurpation from France to be 
avoided?" "By England," said I; "let her connive at 
the constitutional regeneration of Italy, saying to Louis 
Napoleon, 'thus far, and no farther,' and if he attempt an 
inch beyond the mark, let her pounce upon his back." 

1859. February 6. — Mr., Mrs., and Miss Preston, Captain 
Schenley, Mr. Ralston, and the Spanish Minister dined 
with us. Mr. Preston insisted upon my sending him a 
memorandum as to my thoughts of what is best to be 
done by him in reference to Cuba. 

Isturitz is a singularly unaffected and attractive Span- 
iard. He can scarcely be less than seventy, is short, 
gray-haired, and round-shouldered. He understands 
English, but declines speaking it. He spoke Spanish to 
Preston. Told him he would be received cordially at 
Madrid, and that there was but one topic which he hoped 
he would avoid. Mr. Isturitz was at this Court, 1847, 
representing his country. 

1859. February 8. — The speech of Napoleon III. to 
the Legislative Chambers, made yesterday, reached Lon- 
don in the afternoon. It is soothing, but not thor- 
oughly pacific, and is confined to the agitation produced 
by the language used to Hubner on January 1, and the 
military movements since. To me it seems pretty clear 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 309 

that the Emperor proposes to let the Sardinian monarch 
begin the fight, and then fall in under the pretence of a 
just cause and European necessity. 

Lord Lyons dined with us last evening, the company re- 
maining in full glee of conversation until half-past eleven. 
We were five of the family and nine others, to wit, 
Lyons, Moreria, Platen, Von Dorkum, Seymour Fitzger- 
ald, Baring, Hankey, Colonel Scarlett, and Moran. 

1859. February 9. — First reception at Lord Derby's. 
Rooms quite crowded. Conversed with the Lord Chan- 
cellor Chelmsford about his bill to improve the law of 
bankruptcy, and with Lord Colchester about the newly 
issued map redistributing geographically the nations of 
Europe. This map is reported to be a study of the 
French Emperor's : — it removes the Turkish Sultan back 
to Asia, and, giving Hanover to Prussia, places the King 
of Hanover upon a domain on the Bosphorus. There 
are many odd features in the plan. 

1859. February 10. — Admiral Von Dorkum called. 
He says that Sir Hamilton Seymour is personally inti- 
mate with Louis Napoleon, who always calls him, affec- 
tionately, 'Cousin': that this originated during the 
outbreak of 1848, when Louis Napoleon fought in the 
Republican army against the Austrians, and, after a 
defeat, found it impossible to escape without an English 
passport, with which, all other contrivances failing, he 
was supplied by Sir Hamilton. His warm gratitude 
never fails to show itself when they meet. 

Mr. Charles Augustus Murray, the actual British 
Minister in Persia, on leave of absence, came to sec me 
by appointment to-day. He was formerly attached to 
the English Mission in Washington, went on a tour of 
many months into the far West, and thence deduced his 

27* 



3IO DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

" Prairie Bird." His health has greatly suffered at 
Teheran, from the disease — dysentery — prevalent there. 
He describes the country as essentially barbarous, — no 
female society, scanty populations, the streets of the 
capital unpaved and scarcely passable in carriages or on 
horseback. He wants to be appointed elsewhere, and 
would resign, if by so doing he did not lose the pension 
for twenty years of service, which lack only two years 
now. He came to execute before me, under the advice 
of New York, a release or acknowledgment of satisfac- 
tion of a mortgage upon land in that State. 

Went in the evening to Count Bernstorff's to meet H. 
R. H. the Duchess of Cambridge and the Princess Mary. 
The party was to celebrate the birth of the son of Prin- 
cess Frederick William at Berlin. The Duke of Cam- 
bridge quite surprised me by his manifestations of 
partiality, talking with animation about the prospect of 
war, and earnestly asking, with his hand upon my shoul- 
der, my opinion as to the probable future course of the 
French Emperor. Lord Derby and Lord Malmesbury 
stood at a distance, the latter coming up, as soon as the 
Duke allowed him, and engaging me in conversation. 
Lord Palmerston came in, and intimated to me that the 
25th instant would be an interesting time for a visit to 
the House of Commons, — the Navy Estimates night. 

1859. February 14. — The Duke of Cambridge called 
in person, and left his card. This is his second visit to 
me : he probably designed to secure me as a guest at 
the dinner of the Royal Asylum of St. Ann's on the 
22d inst. I had already accepted the invitation. 

Mr. T. H. Worrall did me the honour of a call, and I 
fully explained to him the project of General Duff Green, 
about getting the British creditors of Mexico to sub- 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 3II 

scribe their bonds to his Railroad Company from the 
Sabine to the Rio del Norte, and thence through Mexico 
to the Gulf of California. The General is a sanguine 
schemist, rarely executing anything. Mr. Worrall has 
been in Mexico for many years, and is of opinion that 
we ought to annex it. I was exceedingly struck by the 
intelligence and persuasiveness of his mild manner. 

Phil reports an interesting debate to have taken place 
this afternoon in the House of Lords on the Right of 
Search question, in which my name figured conspicuously. 
We shall have it in the Times at breakfast to-morrow. 

1859. February 16. — Went last night to Lord Col- 
chester's. Chatted agreeably with the Spanish Minister, 
the Bavarian, and the Danish ; also with Lord Hard- 
wicke, Mr. Warren, and Countess Platen. Baron Cetto 
congratulated me on the expressed opinion of Lord 
Clarendon of my " excellence as a painter of Cabinet 
pictures." 

1859. February 23. — Mr. Ward, our Minister to 
China, arrived here yesterday with his family. Sent him 
letters and tickets. 

Attended the 150th anniversary celebration of the 
Royal Asylum of the Society of St. Ann; being obliged 
by this prior engagement to send an apology and toast 
to the American Association dining in honour of Wash- 
ington's birthday. Sir John Burgoyne told me he 
had never been in America but once, and that was at 
the battle of New Orleans. This charity appears to me 
the best I have yet seen in England. The sum collected 
at the table was little short of fifteen thousand dollars. 
I gave a check for five pounds. 

Levee to-day at St. James's : first of the season, 
crowded, and more than usually interesting. 



312 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Dined with Mr. Wm. Brown, to meet the Mayor and 
deputation from Liverpool. I sat near Lord Brougham, 
and had much agreeable conversation with this most 
remarkable man. He told a number of striking anec- 
dotes about his old client Queen Caroline; of her 
disposition to pay her counsel in preference to paying 
her debts, etc. ; described Metternich, inveighed fiercely 
against Napoleon I. as the worst man that ever lived, 
and referred to a recent publication of which he had 
received a copy, showing his private morals to have been 
abominable, and then he pronounced Napoleon III. to 
be an altered man since the attempt of Orsini, intimating 
fiightiness and recklessness. 

Went to Lord Derby's at eleven o'clock. 

1859. February 25. — It seems to be well ascertained 
that Lord Cowley was called over from Paris, and has 
been prepared for a special mission to Vienna, with a 
view, if possible, to induce Austria to agree to quit the 
Papal States simultaneously with France. Much reliance 
is placed upon the efficacy of his diplomatic powers. It 
is, however, very clear that the departure of the French 
and Austrian troops will be the opening of a revolution- 
ary movement against which the Pope has no means of 
resistance ; that once begun, the movement will extend 
into Lombardy and Venice ; that Piedmont will try to 
lead it, and that thus war will be universal in Italy and 
less regularly conducted than if formally waged by 
Napoleon III. 

Went at four o'clock to the House of Commons to 
hear Lord Palmerston question the Ministry, according 
to his notice, as to the probabilities of continuing peace 
and on their policy. His speech was a lucid and able 
and politic review of the state of affairs on the Continent, 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 3 I 3 

the preparations making for battle, and the difficulties of 
perceiving a real cause of quarrel. He seemed to side 
with France in insisting that the foreign forces should 
quit the Papal States ; and he certainly implied that, if 
Austria declined doing so, she would put herself in the 
wrong, and should be left to take the consequences. 
Disraeli spoke cleverly in reply, and made a plausible 
announcement that the government had reason to believe 
that the two Imperial powers would agree upon with- 
drawing their armies. I thought there was in his lan- 
guage an artful evasiveness, which imported doubt. 
Lord John Russell also spoke. 

1859. February 26. — Dined with Lord Lyndhurst. 
His son-in-law, Hamilton Becket, Sir H. Holland, and 
Mr. and Mrs. Ward were there. Lady Lyndhurst, two 
of his Lordship's daughters, an old lady, Colonel Morris, 
and another gentleman filled the round table. Morris, 
an exceedingly youthful and prepossessing person, gath- 
ered many laurels and orders in the Crimea. The Peer, 
though eighty-seven, was full of conversation and ani- 
mated. He told me that when Lord Derby, in the House 
of Lords, was informed of what Disraeli had said in the 
Commons last evening about the government having re- 
ceived communications which gave them reason to infer a 
pacific arrangement, he (Derby) remarked, " He has gone 
too far." He adverted to having travelled in the United 
States about sixty-five years ago with Dr. Bollman and 
Volney. 

At eleven went first to the Marquis of Salisbury, and 
second to Lord Palmerston, getting home by twelve. 

1859. February 27. — Dined with Mr. T. Baring, meet- 
ing Mr. Ward, Mr. Bates, Mr. Ramsden, and Mr. Foster. 
Phil went with me. It is impossible to carry the finish 



3 H DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

and excellence of an entertainment of this sort farther 
than does Mr. Baring. It is perfect of its kind in all its 
details and accessories. Mr. B. informed me that Mr. 
Walpole, Home-Secretary, and Mr. Henley, Board of 
Trade, had resigned their offices upon a difference as to 
the Reform bill to be introduced to-morrow. They think 
it too liberal. 

1859. February 28. — At the House of Commons from 
four to half-past eleven. Mr. Disraeli introduced the 
Reform bill with a speech of three hours. I thought 
the explanation very forced, artificial, and illusory ; and 
if the measure is not a retrograde movement instead 
of an advance, I shall be surprised. To be sure, it 
concedes the ten-pound franchise to counties, but it dis- 
franchises boroughs, and does nothing for the working 
classes. Lord John Russell, Mr. Roebuck. Mr. Bright, 
and Mr. James (his maiden) denounced it in strong terms. 
It is a worse failure than the abortive India bill, and 
Lord Derby can hardly weather the storm it must raise. 
Lord Palmerston, at the head of his friends, looked 
quietly on, perhaps perceiving that the same ultra-Lib- 
erals who drove him from office were about to perform 
a like part with his successor. He has only to vote neg- 
atively in preventing a second reading, which any man 
of intelligence finds warrant to do in several provisions 
of the bill, and the government must either retire or 
resort to a dissolution of Parliament. 

1859. March 2. — Levee at St. James's Palace. I pre- 
sented in the diplomatic circle Bishop Delancey and his 
son. 

Dined with Mr. Vernon Smith, meeting Sir H. Raw- 
linson, Sir Henry and Lady Holland, etc. At eleven 
went to Lord Derby's. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 3 I 5 

1859. March 3. — Remarkably fine weather. Enjoyed 
a walk up Rotten Row amazingly. Went in the evening 
to Lord Palmerston's. Found the Duchess of Malakoff 
both handsomer and more agreeable than I had supposed. 
The rooms were unusually brilliant. Mr. Ponsonby and 
his wife, pleasant persons. The former tells me that Lord 
Lyons is held in high estimation at the Foreign Office, 
and that he and Lord Stratford de Redcliffe are consid- 
ered the ablest of their diplomatic penmen. Delighted 
the Duchess of Inverness with an account of the national 
ball at Washington given as a valedictory to her nephew, 
Lord Napier, of which the description reached me this 
morning. 

Mr. Walpole has done himself great honour by resign- 
ing. Public sentiment eulogizes the act as a remarkable 
example of political integrity. Had he remained in 
public service but two months longer, he would have 
been entitled to a pension of ,£2000, or $10,000, per 
annum for life. He is now poor and without occupation, 
as he cannot return to the Bar, from the equity practice 
of which he was drawn some years ago. 

Accounts represent the result of Lord Cowley's mis- 
sion to Vienna as very uncertain. The Emperor Francis 
has been indulging himself in tart remarks upon Napo- 
leon III. and France. The point at which Cowley aims 
seems to be this : to persuade Austria to give up, as in- 
consistent with the spirit and purposes of the territorial 
arrangement effected by the treaties of I S 1 5, the partic- 
ular treaties or agreements as to fortifications and garri- 
sons she has since made with several Italian States, — 
Parma, Modena, etc. These are the disrelished grounds 
of her influence and intervention, and Louis Napoleon 
will not submit to their continuance. To withdraw from 



316 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Rome and the Papal provinces, though something, is not 
enough. His exertions, now sanctioned by England, 
can hardly be acquiesced in, for Austria has a substan- 
tive right to claim to make with independent governments 
what conventions she can. 

1859. March 5. — At Lord Monteagle's in the evening. 
A new phase of London society. Among the gentle- 
men the leading personages were Sir Wm. Codrington, 
the Dean of St. Paul's, and Sir Alexander Spearman. 
Codrington was the last commander-in-chief of the 
British army in the Crimea. He is fifty- five. He is a 
Liberal, but against the ballot. The Dean, Dr. Milman, 
is an exceedingly interesting man, a fine scholar, and 
an able writer. His history of ecclesiastical matters 
has given him a high reputation. I should presume him 
to be seventy-five or seventy-six. He stoops almost 
double. His conversation is animated and fresh. Every- 
body cleared out early, leaving the rooms empty by 
eleven. Ex-Lord-Chancellor Cranworth was there. 

1859. March 7. — Plon-Plon — Prince Napoleon — has 
resigned his office as Minister of Algeria. He is rep- 
resented as an altogether impracticable functionary, 
in perpetual hot water with his colleagues, especially 
Walewski and De Morny. He is eager for war, and I 
suspect has more of the true Bonapartean energy and 
briskness about him than any of the present generation. 
But he is essentially in principle, though he can't be in 
practice, a democrat, and therefore the chime is against 
him here and in France. 

Dined with Sir Henry Holland, meeting Lords Lans- 
downe, Wodehouse, and Wensleydale, Mr. Harcourt, 
and several ladies. It was stated that Lord Derby's net 
income is seventy-five thousand guineas. In the even- 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 317 

ing the company largely increased, and we had some 
good music. Lord Monteagle assured me positively 
that the new Reform bill would be overwhelmingly 
killed, and that the Cabinet must go. I candidly re- 
gretted, as the present government had treated the 
United States fairly and well. He gave me credit for 
my feeling and said it was natural. A younger son of 
Lord Fortescue, who has the management of the coffee 
estates of the family in Ceylon, has just returned from 
that island, and gave me an interesting account of his 
journey, going and coming twelve thousand miles. Mr. 
Gordon, Lord Aberdeen's son, arrived from the Ionian 
Isles, whither he went as secretary to Mr. Gladstone ; had 
been much pleased with his winter's trip. Sir Charles 
Lyell, Lord Cranworth, and many others came in. 

Went at eleven o'clock from Sir Henry Holland's to 
Mr. Percival's. The late Home Secretary, Walpole, was 
there and considerably stunned and muddled with wine. 
He tried to talk about the little reliance to be placed 
upon Louis Napoleon, but could make neither head nor 
tail of it. I have great advantage in never touching 
liquor of any sort, but am very indulgent in my judg- 
ments of those who do. Lord Stanley told me that if 
I continued to abstain inflexibly, I must undoubtedly 
gradually get the better of my diplomatic colleagues ! 
There was dancing at Mr. Percival's, but the jam made 
it inconvenient, as they had closed their largest room 
under the apprehension that it might fall in ! 

The French Emperor is generally thought to be back- 
ing out of his belligerent position, and the power of 
European public opinion is boasted. I don't give in to 
this yet: but nous verrons. 

1859. March 10. — Dined with the Queen. Before 

28 



318 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

going to table, there were assembled by half-past eight, 
in the Picture-Gallery, the Marquis and Marchioness of 
Salisbury, the Duchess of Norfolk, Count and Countess 
Platen, Lord and Lady Donoughmore, Lord and Lady 
Ashley, Lord and Lady Palmerston, Lord Sheffield, Rt. 
Hon. S. Lushington, D.C.L., etc. I was assigned to 
hand in the Duchess of Norfolk. Sir James Graham 
was there also. On my left sat Lady Donoughmore, 
whom I found to be an agreeable, chatty, and pretty 
Irishwoman, about thirty years of age. I was directly 
opposite her Majesty, the Duchess of Norfolk opposite 
the Prince Consort. On the Queen's right was Salis- 
bury, as President of the Council. On the left of the 
Prince was Lady Flora Macdonald. 

We rose from table and went into the gallery again at 
half-past nine. The Queen inquired whether I was con- 
tented with England, hoped the President would permit 
me to remain much longer, though she knew how rapidly 
the American mission changed, but trusted there would 
be an exception in my case. She asked as to the health 
of Mr. Buchanan and his niece, Miss Lane, and ex- 
pressed much gratification at my account of them. After 
a little while, getting more at ease, I told her Majesty 
one or two anecdotes, which elicited a hearty laugh. 

Had a long and interesting conversation with Dr. 
Lushington, who, on the fellowship of profession, in- 
troduced himself to me. He mentioned that he had 
been the colleague of Lord Lyndhurst on the trial of 
the case in which he made the first speech that brought 
him into notice, and opened the avenue to honours and 
wealth ; until then Lyndhurst had been rendered almost 
desperate by neglect. It was forty-five years ago. I 
take Lushington, who is a neat, tall, white-haired, blue- 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 319 

eyed man, with a perpetual smile on his face, to be 
turned of eighty. Lord Palmerston wore the Garter, 
Lord Ailsea, but lately made a Knight of the Thistle, 
wore the broad green ribbon of the Order. While listen- 
ing to the Queen's band, with written programmes of 
the music in our hands, we seated ourselves in a sort 
of semicircle in front of her Majesty. Nothing could 
transcend the tremulous and deferential homage ex- 
hibited by Countess Platen whenever the Queen spoke 
to her ; she would rise from her chair (not done by others) 
and remain stooping and standing and courtesying until 
the Queen withdrew her notice. In other respects the 
Countess seems gifted with sense and tact. 

1859. March 12. — Lord Cowley is expected to be in 
London to-day from Vienna. He has probably failed 
in his mission, as no result is announced. 

Panizzi writes me a strong and warm letter about 
what I did to secure the Neapolitan victims of Bomba a 
welcome in the United States. The poor fellows are all 
safe in Cork; and by their revolt have disappointed my 
countrymen completely of their prepared ovation. 

1859. March 13. — Returned at half-past nine o'clock 
from attending the religious service in St. Paul's Church. 
The crowd was very great. I suppose more than five 
thousand persons were present. The reverberation of 
sound prevented, to my imperfect ears at least, any dis- 
tinct utterance in Psalm or sermon. The swell of the 
organ and its gradual subsidence as it "in hollow mur- 
murs died away" were very fine. The dome was mag- 
nificent, and my neck was rather painful, in consequence 
of my turning my gaze irresistibly and unconsciously 
upwards; it was lighted brilliantly by a vast circle of 
gas-jets, on the ledge below the whispering gallery ; the 



320 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

paintings in its compartments were brought out, and 
seemed in fact to be brought near, so that the huge ex- 
panse appeared to come down flatter and broader to the 
eye. The effect of this massive and extensive structure 
is impaired by the numberless curtains, and gratings, 
and partitions, which perhaps are necessary to render it 
capable of convenient use, but which detract from its 
sublime proportions and unity. As to the monuments, 
they are treated, not as ornaments, but intruders, and 
put out of sight wherever possible. Were it not for the 
dome, one would prefer being in any common-sized rural 
church in England. The sermon was rather long, and, 
affecting to be addressed to the " lower classes," was 
commonplace and occasionally rather broad. 

1859. March 15. — Dined with Mr. Edward Ellice, 
M.P., in Arlington Street, at the house built by Horace 
Walpole ; Lord Eversley, Sir Allan MacNab, Sir William 
Williams, of Kars, Mr. Bruce, brother of Lord Elgin, 
were at table. Mr. Ellice returned a month or two ago 
from the United States. He had travelled to St. Paul's, 
Minnesota, and would seem largely concerned in land 
speculations there. He repeated to me a conversation 
he had with the President during last summer at his 
residence near Washington, in which he encouraged Mr. 
Buchanan to get rid of all the annoying controversies 
connected with Central America and Mexico by taking 
possession of them at once. 

Lord Eversley's fruit-trees in Hampshire have been in 
full blossom for two weeks. To protect them from re- 
turning frost he has covered them with woollen netting, 
which he says will be effectual. 

1859. March 16. — Our first "at home" of the season : 
a happy inspiration and successful hit. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 32 1 

In the evening went first to Lord Hardwicke's (Privy 
Seal). Met Professor Owen on the stairway. He 
spoke in strong and animated terms of the young sci- 
entific explorers of the United States, particularly in the 
department of natural history. He wished very much 
to see Perry's account of Japan, and I engaged to send 
it to him. 

Went afterwards to Lord Palmerston's. A crush. It 
was quite apparent that in the expectation of the crowd 
the happy event of a ministerial change was close at 
hand. Lord Cranworth could not contain his exultation, 
and remarked that as Walpole's routs were said to be 
more crowded after he left office, so it seemed with 
Lord Palmerston. " Yes," said I, coolly; "but this as- 
semblage is probably aware that Hope has just lighted 
on his Lordship's doorsill !" 

1859. March 17. — In the evening at Lord Chancellor 
Chelmsford's, in Belgrave Square. The assemblage very 
brilliant, and not overcrowded. Conversed for some 
time with Sir John Harding, who seems to think the 
Ministry will weather the storm of the Reform bill. I 
asked an explanation as to the pensions allowed to those 
who had been in office. He said they depended, not 
upon any general rule, but upon special acts of Parlia- 
ment. That, mostly, service for two years in a high 
post entitled to ^"2000 a year ; and the service need not 
be continuous, but fragments at any distance of time 
might be computed together. Thus, Mr. Walpole had 
served under Lord Derby's former ministry nine months, 
so that, when he resigned the other day, he wanted some 
six weeks only to be entitled to his pension of £200kj\ 
hence he was so much eulogized for the disinterested- 
ness and independence of his withdrawal. 

28* 



322 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

1859. March 19. — Reception at the Austrian Minister's 
(Count Appony). Very select and stupid. Lord Derby, 
Disraeli, Donoughmore, Salisbury, Clarendon, Granville, 
there; also MalakorT, Bernstorff, Platen, Von Dorkum, 
Bentinck, Azeglio, etc., etc. The Austrian and French- 
man peculiarly delighted to salute each other. Cetto, 
the Bavarian, speaks oracularly, and says that all the 
war agitation will be completely over in less than three 
weeks. This countenances the rumour that Louis Napo- 
leon has backed down. I doubt. We shall be enlightened 
by what may be addressed to the Imperial Guard, on 
the 20th inst., in the Champ de Mars. The " Prisoner 
of Ham " is perhaps not the man for the occasion, and 
Italy will again be cheated. 

Nothing can now prevent a pitched battle on the Re- 
form question in the Commons, on Monday, unless it be 
an intermediate change of the government : and that, if 
I were Premier, would be brought about, to the avoid- 
ance of an otherwise inevitable discomfiture upon a 
great political principle, in the Legislature, and to the 
avoidance of an equally fatal step, a dissolution of Par- 
liament. If statesmen here do not act more upon the 
plan of conciliatory compromise, do not forbear to exas- 
perate the masses by injustice, arrogance, and stratagem, 
they will be stormed and overwhelmed by the rising 
flood of democracy. The Times has vainly attempted 
for months past to ignore or depreciate the popular 
progress of Mr. Bright: it is now unable to stem the 
torrent, and is taking the other tack. Monday may 
witness in and about the palace of St. Stephen's a scene 
of dense movement which will recall the anti-Popery 
mob of Lord George Gordon. To forestall this, also, 
Lord Derby would show his wisdom by frankly saying 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 323 

that he was satisfied his Ministry could not carry their 
bill, and that he must tender their joint resignations. 
Lord John Russell would be sent for, and all of Blight's 
plan would be ultimately and harmlessly adopted, except 
perhaps the ballot, which might be deferred as a special 
object of committee examination and arrangement. 

1859. March 20. — Mr. T. called this morning. He 
has just returned from the United States, and is now on 
his way to Paris. The description of the President's 
utterly friendless position, of the extravagant style of 
living in Washington, and of the licentiousness of the 
press are exceedingly graphic and deplorable. We are 
advancing to a state of things to remedy which will de- 
mand from patriotism, untiring and incessant exertion 
in all the channels of public opinion. 

1859. March 21. — In the gallery of the House of Com- 
mons from four to eight p.m. Lord John Russell opened 
the discussion on his motion condemnatory of the prin- 
ciple of Lord Derby's Reform bill and against its second 
reading. He was replied to by Lord Stanley. Then 
followed Mr. Sturt, a Conservative, who denounced the 
measure as unjust and unwise, but nevertheless opposed 
the motion of Lord John. Lord Bury replied to him. 
I listened in vain for real argument or eloquence. There 
was a total absence of enlarged, comprehensive, and 
patriotic view. This, then, is the great English ques- 
tion ! There must be something underneath, something 
which is scrupulously kept out of sight, or the extensive 
agitation could not be fed. Is it the grim spectre of 
popular revolution, or what is it? Nothing seemed to 
me more false and trifling than the vast parade of words 
and pretences. And this flat and feeble debate will be 
extended, they say, through the whole week. As a 



324 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

motive, it is palpable that Lord John's motion looks to 
place the government in a minority on their trumpeted 
measure; and so compel a resignation or dissolution 
which will, in all probability, carry him once more to the 
Treasury bench. There seems to exist a stern determina- 
tion to unite on the vote in the ranks of Liberals and 
ultra-Liberals: some exceptions, to be sure. Mr. E. 
Ellice, Mr. Roebuck, Mr. Horsman, etc., are against the 
motion ; these exceptions are more than compensated 
by defections from among the Conservatives : Lord 
John anticipates success by a majority of sixty or 
more. 

1859. March 23. — Dined with Mr. Walter Sterling. 
Sir Alexander and Lady Spearman and daughter were 
there. Mr. Bayley, M.P. for Manchester, and Mr. 
Horsfall, M.P. for Liverpool, also present. Rather flat, 
though hospitality unbounded. 

1859. March 24. — Dined with the Vicar-General of the 
Province, Dr. Travers Twiss, in Park Lane. The Danish 
Minister, Lord Monteagle, Mr. Higgins, Mr. Cardwell, 
Mr. Rives (of the Edinburg Rcviezv), Mr. Lowe, et al. 

The Reform debate was adjourned over to to-day. 
BulwerLytton has made a magnificent speech to-night; 
so has the Solicitor-General Cairns : but it is all in 
vain; the bill will be killed by Lord John Russell's 
resolution, and, as Lord Monteagle says, by too decided 
a majority to justify an appeal to the constituencies. 
Bright spoke rather tamely. 

Went from Dr. Twiss's at ten to Lord Wensleydale's. 
He introduced me to a Mr. Paca, a Neapolitan, who has 
been practising law here for many years, and with whose 
lively and intelligent conversation I was greatly pleased. 

1859. March 25. — After sending off my despatch bag, 






AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 325 

hurried to the House of Commons. Reform still on. 
Lord Palmerston spoke at about ten : was strongly for 
the resolution of Russell : exposed the deficiencies of 
the bill : admitted certain merits : thought the ten-pound 
county franchise might safely be reduced: lectured 
Cairns for his intemperate personality: said the reso- 
lution would certainly carry, but, with great dexterity, 
insisted that Ministers had taken the government with 
its engagements, and were bound to go on with their 
measure; they could not resign with honor, and had not 
the legitimate power to dissolve Parliament under the 
present circumstances. Lord John Russell will probably 
think this speech cuts both ways. As to the last re- 
mark of Palmerston, it seemed to me to intimate a fore- 
gone conclusion in the Queen's mind, who may possibly 
not assent to dissolve. Whiteside, Attorney-General for 
Ireland, answered. He plumply declared that govern- 
ment would not go on with the bill if the resolution 
prevailed, and pressed upon the timid the idea that it 
offered the only chance of Reform which they could 
have this year. 

The proposal of a European Congress on Italian 
questions, offered by the Czar, has been, as now ascer- 
tained, assented to by France, England, Prussia, and 
Austria. Louis Napoleon invited Sardinia to join ; and that 
may introduce Parma, Modena, Tuscany, and the other 
inferior States. The Congress may be prepared to meet 
at Geneva or Aix-la-Chapelle in August next; and in 
the mean while, their meeting at all may be prevented 
by a popular outbreak in Rome, or by conflicts on the 
Ticino, between the confronting Piedmontese and Aus- 
trian forces. Count Cavour is in Paris, on the invitation 
of Louis Napoleon. 



326 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

1859. March 28. — By appointment, Mr. Brett, the 
distinguished engineer so successful in laying submarine 
telegraphic wires, called to obtain my attestation as a 
witness to his signing a contract which had already 
been executed by Mr. Horatio Perry, our late Charge 
d'Affaires at Madrid. It was an agreement as partners 
to effect a line of telegraph (1) from England to the 
south of France, (2) thence to Spain, (3) thence to 
Madeira, (4) thence to the Cape de Verd Islands, (5) 
thence across the Atlantic to Brazil, (6) thence up the 
coast of South America to the West Indies, connecting 
with the American line in Cuba, with many intermediate 
branches. I signed as a witness to his signature, but 
declined employing the seal of the legation, as General 
Dodge had done in attesting the signature of Mr. Perry. I 
read the contract attentively, and found the scheme to 
be one of great extent, likely to require large exertions 
and capital, and possibly to consume many years before 
it could be in operation as a whole. I suggested cross- 
ing South America from Brazil, and running the line on 
the Pacific coast up to Oregon, British Columbia, and 
even up to Behring's Strait, whence it could penetrate 
Asia, and finally encircle the earth. Mr. Brett said that 
the expense of laying the wire on land was at the rate 
of twenty-five pounds per mile. 

Went at nine to the House of Commons, expecting to 
hear Mr. Gladstone on Reform. I heard Sir James Gra- 
ham. A calm, sober, manly, and somewhat republican 
support of Lord John Russell's resolution. Sir James said 
the ballot was augmenting in popularity everywhere, 
though he remained opposed to it. He warned the 
House repeatedly that the time had come for including 
largely the working classes in the enjoyment of political 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. ^ZJ 

power, and argued impressively that it was useless to 
refuse their demands. 

In the Peers, Lord Clarendon elicited some statements 
from Lord Malmesbury about the views of government 
on the Italian question rather favorable to peace. Eng- 
land would like to recover the prestige she has lost 
by her Crimean campaign and her second fiddle to the 
Parisian despot; but Lord Malmesbury is not the man 
for this, — he is inexperienced, ignorant, and thence 
necessarily timid, over-cautious, and slow. While giving 
to Louis Napoleon Lord Cowley as an agent to discover 
the wishes of Austria under the disguise of a friendly 
British Minister, he has neglected the moment of action, 
and has allowed Russia to take the initiative in the pro- 
posal for a European Congress. Bungle, bungle, bungle ! 

1859. March 29. — Went to hear Gladstone. He 
stands by the Ministry, and thus proved his gratitude for 
having been appointed Lord High Commissioner to the 
Ionian Islands. Perhaps, too, he now looks to a peerage. 
But, alas, he could do no more than eloquently rehash 
the old and exploded praises of the small rotten bor- 
oughs ! Shame to the Philhellene ! 

1859. March 30. — A violent snow-storm all day; 
clearing up in the evening, with freezing. The reception 
to-day very limited, owing to the weather. 

Bridgewater House. 

My Dear Sir, — A former sovereign of these realms, William the 
Fourth, would have resented the supposition that anybody but himself 
was head of the Church. There have, however, been various theories 
about the particular status of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and, as you 
are about to dine at Lambeth and may wish to be prepared on the sub- 
ject, I will mention one of them. 

It is told that the son of a clergyman, having been plucked at the Ox- 
ford examination for a failure in his divinity, which is always fatal in that 



328 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

University, was closely interrogated by his father as to the details of his 
misfortune. 

" I was asked," he said, " who was the mediator between God and 
man." 

" Well, sir, and what did you reply ?" 

" Of course I answered, ' the Archbishop of Canterbury.' " 

" Oh, you stupid boy ! Didn't you know that Dr. Green had had a 
quarrel with the Archbishop?" 

This anecdote I had many years ago from our Chancellor Lord Eldon, 
who had a good deal of drollery in him when off the woolsack and at 
the dinner-table. 

If it please God to prevent squabbles between peppery naval authorities, 
I do not despair. We have an excellent and sober admiral on the N. A. 
station, and I believe the same may be said of our naval men in command 
generally in that quarter. 

Ever, my dear sir, 

Faithfully yours, 

Egerton Ellesmere. 

The Hon. G M. Dallas. 

Dined at Lambeth Palace. Lords Overstone and 
Monteagle, Sir David Dundas, Mr. Spencer Walpole, 
etc., etc., were at table. 

At eleven went to Lady Alice Peel's. The Duchess 
of Saxe-Coburg and her spouse there. The Count de 
Paris also. Many of the Diplomatic Corps attended, at- 
tracted by the royalties. General Peel overwhelmingly 
civil to me, as also the Duke of Cambridge. Com- 
pletely tired out, I declined going either to Lord Pal- 
merston's or Lord Hardwicke's. 

1859. April 1. — The House divided on Lord John 
Russell's motion against the ministerial reform bill, after 
continuing the discussion all yesterday, at one o'clock 
this morning. The vote stood 330 for the motion and 
291 for government; majority, 39! An adjournment 
took place to Monday next, giving to Lord Derby and 
his colleagues opportunity to decide what course to take, 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 329 

whether dissolution, resignation, or a new bill. At noon 
to-day the Cabinet convened, and after a consultation of 
two hours Lord Derby proceeded to Buckingham Palace. 
In the House of Lords this evening he has mentioned his 
interview with the Queen, in consequence of the vote in 
the Commons, but he has adjourned until Monday next 
any exposition of what the government intends doing. 
Carefully reflecting on the little thus developed, I incline 
to think, from what is omitted to be said as well as from 
what is said, that the Ministers do not propose either to 
dissolve Parliament or to resign. They will plead the 
danger of war in Europe. 

1859. April 5. — Went yesterday to both Houses of 
Parliament. In the Commons, Mr. Disraeli stated with 
happy dignity and moderation the course resolved upon 
by the government, — namely, a dissolution, as soon as cer- 
tain measures were disposed of. Lord Palmerston, Mr. 
Bright, and Lord John Russell followed in pointed 
speeches vindicating the proceeding of the majority, 
condemning the ministerial course, and showing that 
they went to the country without an issue for decision, 
for they abandoned reform. Lord Derby in the other 
chamber vented himself spitefully upon Palmerston, 
Russell, and Graham, speaking with extreme bitterness 
and arrogance, as Lord Wensleydale said to me, " con 
amore," sed " cum odio." How unfitting a conduct for 
a Prime Minister! The true and manly and politic 
course was to accept tranquilly the vote of the House, 
resign, and resume his seat on the opposition bench. 

I was this morning called upon by Captain Sir Edward 
Belcher, the celebrated Arctic explorer. He introduced 
himself, and we had an interesting half-hour's conversa- 
tion. He is of opinion that several groups of Sir John 

29 



330 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Franklin's associates will yet be discovered in detached 
parties among the natives. 

1859. April 6. — A bright and beautiful day. The 
Queen's levee, our own reception, and an evening party 
at Lord Palmerston's. The first crowded and protracted, 
the second quite a success, and the third brilliant as well 
as politically very interesting. Had a long talk with 
Lord Broughton, who characterized the dissolution as 
the worst public act which a Parliamentary government 
could have performed. It is bitterly and loudly con- 
demned as unwarranted by the ministerial situation, in- 
terrupting national business, involving an expenditure of 
more than a million of pounds, producing violent and 
universal agitation, sure to encourage the most radical 
doctrines, and ending, as every man knows, in augment- 
ing the strength of the Liberals, all to gratify Lord 
Derby's spite. 

Three Orientals of historical interest were at the levee, 
in their rich costumes of cloth of gold, — an old man, 
the son of Tippoo Saib, and the grandsons, remarkably 
animated and striking in appearance. I talked with 
them for some time, when they afterwards came to 
Lord Palmerston's. They have been pensioned by the 
British government ever since their great ancestor was 
despoiled. 

Met at Lord Palmerston's Baron Poerio, the Neapoli- 
tan. He is a short, intelligent-looking, mild, and un- 
affected gentleman. He says his health had been so 
impaired by his imprisonment for ten years that he 
could not have survived the long voyage which the 
David Steward would probably have had across the 
Atlantic. Besides, he represented the vessel as badly 
manned and provided. 



AT TILE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 33 I 

1859. April 8. — Rout at Colonel Wilson Patton's, 
M.P. I told Sir H. Willoughby that, having studied it 
nearly all my life, as a lawyer, I understood the Con- 
stitution of England as well as Mr. Gladstone or Lord 
Derby, and that I could conceive of nothing more in- 
consistent with its fundamental principles than the little 
nomination of rotten boroughs. He said, quietly, that 
he represented one of them in the House of Commons ! 

1859. April 9. — Fresh and fierce symptoms of war 
at Vienna. Armies ordered sixty thousand strong. 

Captain Prentiss, of the David Steward, called to 
rectify an error in his claim against Naples — from thirty- 
eight hundred to twenty-eight hundred — on his charter- 
party to carry out the Neapolitan exiles. He represented 
them as very disagreeable, dissatisfied, and unmanagea- 
ble guests, — not unlikely! 

1859. April 11. — Louis Napoleon arranges with the 
Director of the railway for sending thirty thousand 
additional to the neighbourhood of Lyons. 

At the ball of Jones of St. Pancras, M.P., Colonel 
Patten said that in the House of Commons this after- 
noon it was currently stated and believed that the Roths- 
childs had bought into the funds for five millions, which 
was construed, viewing the excellence of their means of 
intelligence, into a sign of peace. It is, however, if the 
fact be so, capable of other natural speculations : they 
may have bought at present reduced prices the very 
stocks they sold some time ago, in order to realize their 
profits ; or they may have invested here funds drawn 
from the countries threatened with war. 

1859. April 12. — The Rothschilds' story of purchase 
into funds fades as fiction. 

1859. April 13. — Our reception thronged and lively. 



332 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Countesses Derby, Hardwicke, and Apponyi, Marchio- 
ness of Salisbury, Ladies Airey, Hall, Bathurst, etc. 
Reception at Lord Palmerston's. 

1859. April 14. — Queen's drawing-room. Company 
numerous and brilliant. A mischievous partisan photo- 
graph, by my lively friend Lady Donoughmore, of the 
Duchess of S ; "a quilt and a night-cap!" 

Austria, pushed to the corner by the mediating powers, 
consents to go into Congress and there settle the Italian 
question, upon the condition precedent that there shall 
be a general simultaneous disarmament. France says 
she hasn't armed, and, therefore, cannot disarm. Pied- 
mont has no objection, if all the Austrian armaments 
throughout the States of Italy, which are standing men- 
aces to her safety, are first withdrawn. The ministerial 
development here, on this subject, was to-night deferred 
in both Houses to Monday next. They have a hard road 
to travel. 

Lady Morgan* died last night. 

1859. April 16. — Dined with the Danish Minister, 
— Admiral von Dorkum, Dr. Travers Twiss, and the 
money-article writer for the Times at table. So, also, 
Swedish Minister Count Platen and his wife, M. Conti 
and wife, Secretary of Spanish legation. 

Went at near eleven to Lord Clarendon's : a gay and 
noisy rout. Lord Palmerston there, also Lord Chan- 
cellor Chelmsford and Lord Hardwicke. Had a long 
talk with Sir George Cornwall Lewis about the prospect 
of war; he don't doubt its coming, and distrusts the 
ultimate designs of Napoleon. Delane, of the Times, was 
present. 

* Authoress of " The Wild Irish Girl." 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 333 

1859. April 18. — Queen holds a Privy Council at 
Buckingham Palace, and will prorogue Parliament by 
Commission to-morrow. She proceeds to Windsor this 
afternoon. 

First to the Commons and afterwards to the Lords to 
hear the ministerial statement as to the diplomatic posi- 
tion in the question of peace or war. Disraeli, Palmer- 
ston, Malmesbury, Clarendon, and Derby spoke; but 
the development of the Government darkened the pros- 
pect. The feeling in favour of Piedmont's attitude — 
refusing to disarm for a Congress into which she was 
not admitted — showed itself in the House by cheers. 
That she should have been asked to do this by England 
will tell fatally against Malmesbury. He bungled, too, 
so far as to be on the eve of joining France in guarantee- 
ing Piedmont, if she would disarm against Austria; thus 
making England a party to the Continental embroglio. 
France assents to the principle of disarmament, but, like 
Russia, postpones the fact for deliberation by Congress. 
Austria insists upon its proceeding. Neutrality — armed 
neutrality — is the order of Lord Derby's march, who 
spoke of the various proposals and counter-proposals 
between Austria and France as a " trifling" not to be 
tolerated beyond the disposition of the final suggestion 
he has made ; but the opposition dilute this neutrality 
with a strong leaning towards Italian deliverance from 
the bayonets of foreigners and bad local governments. 

1859. April 21.— Dined with Mr. Bates. Met Mr. T. 
Baring and Mr. Reed, our Minister to China. The 
latter agreeable about the Chinese and Japanese : effec- 
tually cured of Anglo-mania. 

A telegram from Turin in the Times says that General 
Gyulai has been ordered to announce a Declaration of 

29* 



334 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

War against Piedmont if she do not within three days 
disarm and dismiss the volunteers ! So, then, Malmes- 
bury's incessant proposals have lulled France into a 
false security and Austria has got the start! If this be 
so, the excitement in France will be tremendous ; she 
will consider herself betrayed into dishonour by her 
closest ally ; and we may have a war of twenty years. 
The arrogance of Austria has put Napoleon in the 
right, and his opportunity to follow the career of his 
uncle is capital. Poor Sardinia will be crushed before 
she can be relieved ! 

1859. April 22. — Napoleon is stated to be expediting 
his armies to Piedmont. His generals are all assigned 
to their respective divisions, most of them to the south- 
eastern frontier of France : Malakoff to the northeast, 
at Nancy, Commander-in-chief of the Army of Obser- 
vation. The game opens grandly, with a coolness and 
precision which manifest long predetermined preparation. 
When the Emperor, a few days ago, was earnestly 
begged for a military appointment, he is said to have 
replied, " They are all given, and I want one for myself." 
He probably will command in person. 

1859. April 26. — Young Hutchinson, just arrived from 
United States, dined with us. Such inquiries and an- 
swers about everything in Philadelphia ! He is on his 
way to Liege, in Belgium. 

1859. April 27 '. — A treaty of alliance, offensive and 
defensive, is announced as executed on the 22d inst., 
between Russia and France. Russia has two Armies of 
Observation, — one on the eastern frontier of Russia, the 
other on the eastern frontier of Galicia. The Emperor 
Napoleon starts for the " Army of Italy" this morning. 

1859. April 28. — Stock exchange in a perfect panic. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 335 

Consols went as low as 88. A treaty of alliance, offen- 
sive and defensive, announced between France and 
Denmark. Why this ? Has it any bearing on the 
freedom of the Russian fleet to come in and out the 
Baltic through the Sound ? 

1859. April 29. — I had an extremely interesting inter- 
view with Lord Malmesbury this afternoon. In appear- 
ance, he has grown ten years older during the last two 
months. He looks thoroughly " abattu," — pale, dejected, 
worn. We interchanged salutations, and I introduced con- 
versation by saying that I knew his oppressive engage- 
ments just now, and really regretted being obliged to in- 
voke his attention. I was aware of his persevering and in- 
defatigable efforts to preserve the peace, and, whatever 
might be their result, he would have the applause of the 
world. " Well," said he, " I have kept them from fight- 
ing for two months. I have laboured at it for fourteen 
hours daily, and am fairly exhausted ; but it is now over, 
the negotiations are at an end ; they are fighting this very 
day." I said that I had never for a moment, since Janu- 
ary 1, doubted that the French Emperor had determined 
upon war; that, having resolved upon his line of policy, 
nothing could deter him from proceeding straight for- 
wards in carrying it out. He replied such appeared to 
be the case, and no one could foresee where it would 
lead him. 

1859. May 3. — Dined with the Minister of the Han- 
seatic League, Mr. Rucker, and his pretty wife. Met 
Mr. Schleiden, who represents the same League at Wash- 
ington. A charming dinner and an agreeable one. 

The manifestos of the two Emperors, explanatory for 
going to war, are out. Napoleon's is clear, forcible, im- 
pressive, and exciting. Stuck upon the walls of Paris, 



336 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

it kindles enthusiasm among the gamins who cluster 
round to read it. Austria's is dignified and patriarchal, 
but rather tame. It may, however, well suit the German 
temperament. 

There was no fight in Piedmont on the day Lord 
Malmesbury supposed. The Austrian invaders, how- 
ever, have crossed the Ticino, have had a skirmish with 
some Sardinians, and lost a Colonel and thirteen men. 
It is said forty thousand of the French are at Genoa, 
from Algiers, Toulon, and Marseilles. 

1859. May 4. — Reception; not a crowd, but exceed- 
ingly acceptable visitors, and enough. 

1859. May 6.— Went to exhibition of paintings in 
water colours, some things admirable and exquisite. 

1859. May 7. — A drawing-room at St. James's Palace; 
I talkecTall the time to Lord Stanley. Malakoff leaves to- 
night, with his lovely Marechale, for Paris. It is rumoured 
that Persigny succeeds him. Strange ! but it would 
appear that the Austrians, after crossing the Po and in- 
vading Piedmont, have suddenly, and without any obvious 
cause, retreated and recrossed the river! Is it a feint? 
Have the Croatians insisted upon the pledge given them 
that they were not to be marched over the Austrian 
boundary ? Have the deluges of rain produced disorder 
and disease ? Or is there a quarrel between Generals 
Hess and Gyulai as to the mode of opening the cam- 
paign ? Everybody questions, nobody answers. 

Louis Napoleon still lingers in Paris. 

1859. May g. — A great death in Berlin on Saturday, 
— Humboldt, turned of ninety! 

1859. May 10. — Levee at St. James's Palace. 

The Emperor, accompanied by Prince Napoleon, left 
Paris at six p.m. last evening, by rail for Marseilles, on his 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 337 

way to take command of the Army of Italy. He leaves 
the Empress as Regent, under special instructions and 
with special advisers. 

1859. May 13. — Hard at work all day for the steamer 
of to-morrow. 

Concert in the evening at Buckingham Palace. Sir 
John Lawrence there; an admirable personal represen- 
tation of his real character — sagacity, energy, and de- 
termination in every lineament of countenance and 
figure. He had been created a K. C. B. during this day, 
and wore the broad red ribbon. Conversed with Lord 
Derby, who said he was delighted to know from Lord 
Malmesbury that the relations of our two countries were 
on the best footing. Also with Lord Hardvvicke, who 
anticipated difficulties in the trade with coal, as an arti- 
cle contraband of war. Also with Ex-Chancellor Cran- 
worth, whom I surprised by announcing to him the 
removal from office of Count Buol, Minister of Austrian 
Foreign Affairs. This news had just arrived, and was 
told me by Tricoupi. Also with Sir Edward Cust, who 
disliked Mr. Sickles, from what he had observed of him 
while Secretary of Legation here, and who thought he 
should have been convicted of the murder of Key, and 
then pardoned. Also with Moreria, who was curious 
to know my thoughts as to the war, and its probable 
results. I told him that all we Americans must go with 
Piedmont and France up to the expulsion of the Aus- 
trians from Italy ; but, after that, I confessed it was difficult 
to foresee the complications to arise, though in the end we 
might expect to find the Czar in Constantinople, France 
possessed of Egypt, England, coalesced with Austria, 
Prussia, and Germany, laying herself open to invasion, and 
all the monarchies endangered by popular revolutions. 



33 S DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

The Queen issued to-night her Proclamation of Neu- 
trality. Yet England is arming to the teeth. 

1859. May 14. — Visited the Royal Gallery for a couple 
of hours with Susan. A few delightful pictures : the 
" Doubtful Crumbs," by Landseer, and his stag in the 
water pursued by hounds, one of which is near enough 
to seize the throat or to be resolutely horned. The 
" Home Again," pendant to " Eastward Ho," is fine and 
moving. Too many immense portraits, none really good. 
Lady Londonderry with her children, fit for a huge barn- 
door ; Lord Chancellor Chelmsford, for New York City 
Hall. 

1859. May 17. — Went in the evening to Sir John Pak- 
ington's at the Admiralty Office. Conversed freely with 
Colonel Wilson Patten, M.P., on the effects likely to be 
produced by the Proclamation of Neutrality upon the trade 
in coals and provisions. I told him what seemed to me 
would be produced among his mercantile constituents of 
Liverpool, especially pointing out the placing it in the 
power of private prosecutors to create prosecutions for 
misdemeanor against shippers, a power which Austrian 
consular functionaries might feel it a duty to exercise. 

1859. May 18. — Our "at home." Lord and Lady 
Napier were the first to call. They have returned with 
the warmest sense of their treatment in the United States, 
and talked most acceptably about many of my family 
and friends. His Lordship complimented me upon the 
prophetic spirit with which for more than a year past I 
had noted the incidents leading inevitably to the present 
European war. Lady Napier spoke of my youthful 
grandniece, Agnes Irwin, as the most talented and agree- 
able girl she had met in America! This is a result, too, 
which I predicted several years ago. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 339 

1859. May 19. — Queen's appointed, not actual, birth- 
day. She was born on May 24th. A brilliant drawing- 
room, at which we presented General and Mrs. Morgan, 
our diplomatic representative at Lisbon. Had a long 
and interesting conversation with Lord John Manners 
(Public Works). A grand official dinner by Lord 
Malmesbury, in Downing Street. The laborious day 
closed with an intolerable squeeze at Lord Derby's 
quarters in the same locale. 

There is something I cannot exactly comprehend in the 
general impression expressed by merchants in England 
and dwelt upon in the newspapers to the effect that, not- 
withstanding the Queen's Proclamation, commerce carried 
on from here will be safer in American vessels and under 
the American flag than in British bottoms with British 
colours. Both nations are neutral, and both admit the 
belligerent right of search for contraband of war. As 
equally neutral, both can safely ship innocent merchan- 
dise, and both are liable to the consequences of having 
on board military supplies. If there be a difference, it is 
one rather against the shipping of the United States, for 
we did not become party to the Declaration made at the 
Congress of Paris in 1856, owing to the indivisibility of 
the four propositions and our rejecting most wisely the 
abolition of privateering; so that we cannot claim for 
our vessels exemption, under " free ships make free 
goods," from belligerent search and the necessity of 
surrendering up enemy's property. We cannot carry 
enemy's property as safely as the English can. 

1859. May 20. — Went in the evening to the Prussian 
Minister's. Not a large company. Inferior music. 
Spoke to Mr. S. Fitzgerald, Under-Secretary of Foreign 
Affairs, about the high rates of duty on tobacco and the 






340 DIAR Y OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

possibility of negotiating successfully for a reduction. 
He was very discouraging, but, at my request, promised 
a Blue Book on the subject. 

1859. May 21. — Mr. Seward called. Came over in the 
Ariel. Arrived in London last night, and his first visit 
is to me ! 

The battle of Montebello announced. The French 
General, Florey, victorious after a severe struggle, and 
the Austrians under Stadion retreat over the Po ! So 
opens the war where Lannes gained his laurels under the 
great Napoleon, close to the field of Marengo. 

1859. May 23. — Visited the Royal Gallery and com- 
pared the modern with the old masters. Alas ! we are 
very far behind the great painters which preceded us ! 
Contrast that immense Paul Veronese, " Alexander Re- 
ceiving the Family of Darius," with West or Alston ! 

1859. May 25. — An amusing rencontre at our "at 
home." Persigny, who has taken Malakoff' s post, held 
me steadily in the corner of a sofa descanting long and 
earnestly in vindication of his sovereign's course of pro- 
ceeding in relation to the war. As he was proceeding 
in most animated style, who should come in but Hulse- 
man, from Washington, where he has represented Austria 
for something short of a century. I rose to welcome 
him, whereupon he entered upon his habitual flippant 
volubility as to the motives of his arrival. He obviously 
knew nobody in the room but the family, so I thought it 
best to edge in a caution, and, making a sign, said in a 
low tone, " The French Ambassador." He underwent 
an electric shock, gave utterance to an audible " Ah !" 
and whisked round. Persigny overheard, but quietly 
remarked to my daughter, on a picture hanging on the 
wall, " Who is the artist ?" 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 34 1 

The Duchess of Kent, the Queen's mother, now about 
seventy-three, is reported to be seriously ill. Her 
Majesty comes from Osborne to-morrow with the Prin- 
cess Frederick William of Prussia. 

Mr. Seward came to our reception, and, wanting a 
guide, I took him to the flower show at the Botanic 
Garden. The throng was immense. We were much 
delayed. I invited him to take pot-luck at dinner. He 
did so, and remained until near eleven o'clock. 

1859. May 27. — In the evening went to the Earl of 
Lanesborough's. He is an Irish representative Peer. 
Made the acquaintance of Captain Carnegie, whom Sir 
John Pakington forced to resign his place as a Lord of 
the Admiralty because he would not run for Doon at 
the recent election. 

Garibaldi has clearly turned the Austrian extreme 
right, and is in Lombardy. He has taken Varese, and 
has issued a proclamation invoking a revolutionary rise. 
He will advance to Como without delay. His whole 
force in the nature of guerillas is estimated at from six 
to ten thousand men ; no artillery, except two cannon 
captured from an Austrian party, and no cavalry. If he 
get in the rear of the Austrian armies, make a dash at 
Milan, and awaken the people to rebellion, he will run 
the chance of eclipsing so completely the movements of 
the Emperor Napoleon and the King Victor Emmanuel, 
as well as the allied generals, that he may incur the dan- 
ger of universal jealousy and dislike. His is another 
striking illustration of the rule that a cause should be 
entrusted to those who sincerely believe in and love it. 
Garibaldi is wedded to the independence and liberty of 
Italy, and puts his faith in his people. 

1S59. May 28.— Dined with Mr. Moffat, late Member 

30 



342 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

of Parliament for Ashburton. He has just lost his elec- 
tion, though he intends to contest his adversary's majority 
of one. Rather a stupid time, relieved for a few minutes 
by an animated partisan philippic from Mr. James Wilson, 
the founder of the Economist, and the recent distin- 
guished Financial Secretary of the Treasury. He bore 
down fiercely upon the Ministry, and especially upon 
Malmesbury. 

We had also at table the famous mesmeric Dr. Elliott, 
whose dark, deep, and impressive face brought to my 
mind irresistibly Dumas's delineation of Balsamo in his 
" Memoires d'un Medecin." 

At eleven p.m. proceeded to Lord Palmerston's. 
Crowded and brilliant. Governor Seward there. Glad- 
stone, cornered by Lord Palmerston, with a look of 
mingled tribulation and anger, his Lordship speaking to 
him calmly and steadily, as a school-master would chide 
an erring pupil ! 

1859. June 1. — News of another battle at Palestro. 
French successful, and Victor Emmanuel gains bright 
spurs by personal courage. Napoleon sent him during 
the conflict his favourite regiment of Third Zouaves, who 
carried a height with impetuosity, driving four hundred 
Austrians into a canal. Canrobert was in this engage- 
ment. 

The Queen has determined to please the Legation, 
unexpectedly and contrary to all usage, sending invita- 
tions to her concert of this evening to Bishop Delancey 
and Mr. Seward. I presented the latter. The music 
was very good. One song by Titiens, admirable. Met 
Lord Elgin for the first time since his return from China. 
The Princess Frederick William has grown taller and 
become in all respects an attractive woman ; nothing in 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 343 

her look or manner indicated that she had suffered from 
detecting her husband to have had a " morganatic wife 
already !" 

1859. J une 3- — A press of American visitors yesterday 
and to-day; among them Colonel Crittenden, of our 
army, introduced by General Scott, and Mr. Perine, of 
Baltimore, introduced by Chief-Justice Taney. 

Took with us to Lord Derby's, at eleven p.m., Mr. 
Butler, the Secretary of Legation at Berlin. A dance, 
an incredible crowd, and very warm. The Premier in 
gayest spirits, telling Lord Clarendon he was bent on 
suffocating all the opposition to-night. 

A circular signed by Palmerston, Russell, Milner Gib- 
son, Ellice, and others, invokes for Monday next a 
caucus of all the Liberals of the House. The object is 
to confer upon the course to be taken by the opposition 
to effect a change of Government. The expedient is a 
delicate and dangerous one; it may burst in the hands 
of its managers, and utterly destroy the party union it is 
designed to effect. How can Roebuck or Bright be ex- 
cluded ? and, if present, can they forbear a disorganizing 
attack upon the Whig leaders ? The general impression, 
however, is, as Colonel Patten told me to-night, that a 
vote of want of confidence will be agreed upon in amend- 
ment of the address, and that they will take the chances 
of a new Ministry being fairly constituted. This is really 
not altogether a game for office : the Liberals believe 
that in a time of war something better than Malmesbury is 
essential to the country, and that a parliamentary major- 
ity sustaining the government is necessary to its attitude. 
The calculators anticipate carrying the resolution of 
censure by not less than nineteen majority, sufficiently 
large to upset, but hardly broad enough to build upon. 



344 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

1859. June 6. — A great battle at Magenta, a town on 
the Lombard side of the Ticino, took place the day 
before yesterday, — Saturday morning. Fifteen thousand 
Austrians Jiors de combat, and five thousand prisoners ! 
The outposts of the Allies were close to Milan before 
the sun set. 

The caucus of Liberals at Willis's rooms to-day 
numbered two hundred and seventy-four. Palmerston, 
Russell, and Bright bent on union. A motion to be 
made to amend the address to the Queen, so as to ex- 
press a want of confidence. Roebuck, Horsman, and 
Lindsay against it : the only dissentients. 

1859. June J. — The Queen opens Parliament; House 
of Lords exceedingly imposing and showy. Many 
peers, many Bishops, and a crowded Commons. In the 
afternoon the want of confidence amendment offered in 
the House by Lord Hartington. I attended and heard 
Disraeli's speech in defence — full of eloquent sarcasm, 
but no forcible argument. 

I ^59- June 8. — Ball at Buckingham Palace. Con- 
versed long with Lord Chancellor Chelmsford, to reach 
whom I left the diplomatic corner and went round to the 
opposite platform. I had two purposes : first, to see 
whether he anticipated being displaced, and, second, to 
impress upon him my conviction that the French Em- 
peror would leave the Italians to choose their own rulers 
and laws as soon as he effected their independence of 
Austria. He exultingly expects the defeat of the Liberal 
attack, and he is obviously anti-Louis Napoleon. A Tory 
is like a Bourbon, — he learns nothing and forgets nothing. 

The Queen coquetted between the belligerent sover- 
eigns, dancing with Persigny and then with Apponyi ; 
so also in her attentions to the two ladies. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 345 

A report prevailed during the day that the Allies had 
been beaten back over the Ticino, and that the Sardinian 
King had been killed. In the ballroom, Persigny came 
to me and said he had in his pocket a telegram, received 
an hour ago, announcing the falsehood of the story, and 
stating the entry this morning of the Emperor and his 
ally in triumph into Milan. 

1859. J unc 9- — Dined with Lord Lyndhurst. Earls 
Clarendon and Malmesbury, Lady Clarendon, Lord and 
Lady Napier, Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Ellice, Mr. Seward, 
and two or three others. 

Gladstone told a piquant story of what Lord Brougham 

had said of Sir J. G , to wit, that he had known his 

mother very well, and had called to see her shortly after 

Sir J was born ; that the nurse was ordered to bring 

the infant in to show him, and as soon as he came he 
misbehaved himself! "As he has been doing ever 
since," said Mr. Ellice. Great laughter followed this 
sally. 

1859. Junc 10. — Another battle at Melegnano. Aus- 
trians defeated. Bonaparte has created MacMahon Duke 
of Magenta. The Austrians retreating beyond the 
Adda, after abandoning Piacenza and blowing up the 
Citadel. 

1859. June 11. — This morning, at about two a.m., the 
division on the amendment to the address took place in 
the House, resulting in a majority of thirteen against 
the Government. A Cabinet Council at twelve, and 
Lord Derby soon after proceeded to the Palace and 
tendered to her Majesty the resignation of the Ministry. 
Accepted. Lord Granville sent for, and subsequently 
Lord Palmerston. 

1859. J unc l $- — The Ministerial crisis has continued 

30* 



346 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

all the week. This evening the Globe contains the 
following: "Inauguration of the New Ministry. This 
morning Her Majesty the Queen held a Court' and 
Privy Council at Windsor Castle, for the purpose of 
formally receiving from Lord Derby's administration the 
seals of office, and transferring them to the new govern- 
ment, which has been formed under Lord Palmerston. 

" Her Majesty gave audience to the Earl of Derby 
and his late colleagues. The Lord Chancellor gave up 
the great seal, the Secretaries their seals, and other offi- 
cials their wands." 

The new Ministers were afterwards admitted to an 
•audience, received the seals of office, and kissed hands 
on their appointments. 

THE CABINET. 

First Lord of the Treasury. — Viscount Palmerston, KG. 

Chancellor of the Exchequer. — Mr. W. E. Gladstone. 

Secretaries of State : For the Foreign Department. — 
Lord John Russell. For the Home Department. — Sir G. 
Cornewall Lewis. For the Colonial Department — The 
Duke of Newcastle. 

For War. — Mr. Sidney Herbert. 

For India. — Sir C. Wood, G.C.B. 

First Lord of the Admiralty. — The Duke of Somerset. 

Lord Chancellor. — Lord Campbell. 

President of the Council. — Earl Granville, K.G. 

Privy Seal — The Duke of Argyll, K.T. 

Postmaster-General. — The Earl of Elgin, K.T. 

President of the Board of Trade. — Mr. R. Cobden. 

President of the Poor-Laiv Board. — Mr. Milner Gibson. 

Secretary for Ireland. — Mr. Cardwell. 

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. — Sir G, Grey. 






AT THE COURT OF ST JAMES. 347 

This Cabinet is a compound of materials heretofore 
esteemed discordant, if not irreconcilable; it is, however, 
intellectually powerful, and the strong sense of the abso- 
lute necessity of saving the Liberal party by overlooking 
differences of individual opinion may enable it to work 
on. There are Whigs of every tint and shade, from the 
extreme Radical to the just short of Tory. The only 
almost inexplicable feature of it is Mr. Gladstone; a 
gentleman who has, as Lord Commissioner to the Ionian 
Isles under Lord Derby's government, just returned 
from office, who on the question of reform champions 
rotten boroughs, and who voted against the want of con- 
fidence amendment to the Address. Lord Palmerston 
has carried the idea of a " broad basis " to the frontier 
of " no party." It bodes no good. 

1859. fane 20. — Two dangers, like lions in his path, 
seem before Louis Napoleon. The first is that his vic- 
torious army will not consent to return to France until 
they have visited Vienna, and the second that his stirring 
up the Hungarians to revolt, with the aid of Klapka and 
Kossuth, will bring upon his back Prussia, Germany, and 
mayhap England. He may be sincere in his wish to 
localize the war, and to end it as soon as the Austrians 
are driven out of Italy, but circumstances may force him 
onwards. Phaeton would have liked to perform the 
diurnal revolution with the Chariot of the Sun, but wise 
wishes and good intentions are not independent of events. 

A brilliant ball to-night at the French Embassy. The 
reinstated Ministers first. I hailed Lord John Russell on 
the staircase, I going up, he coming down, at twelve, as 
" Mon chef." He smiled, said, " Thank you," and added, 
" You are a bold man, in this place and so early, to throw 
off your diplomatic allegiance to Persigny." He seemed 



348 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

to think some reply was necessary, and made a flat one. 
He, Lord Elgin, and Lady Palmerston were made 
strangely handsome by the beaming delight of their coun- 
tenances. E converso, Lord Clarendon looked as if 
smoking a bad cigar. Of all imperturbable men, give 
me Lord Palmerston ! 

1859. June 22. — Concert at the Palace. King of Bel- 
gium, Count of Flanders, etc., there. Why this visit? 
Does his Majesty wish to urge the Regent of Prussia, 
through the British Court, to take his stand at the head of 
the German Confederation against France in Italy ? Take 
care, Leopold ; you are but a mouthful for your great 
neighbours. Besides, your policy overreaches itself, and 
leads to the very mischief you apprehend. If Prussia, 
by a measure of unjust intermeddling, provoke Napoleon, 
all France will rise at his summons and overflow its 
frontiers. 

1859. June 25. — A very crowded and fatiguing levee 
at St. James's to-day. Count Persigny came beaming up 
to me, stating that he had a telegraphic despatch of a 
great battle on the right bank of the Mincio, in which 
the Austrians were defeated, driven from their position, 
and with an immense loss of men, guns, and standards, 
the whole army, on each side engaged, extending in a 
line of fifteen miles. The victory telegraphed by the 
Emperor to the Empress. The fight began at four a.m. 
on the 24th of June and continued for sixteen hours. 
These are all the details given. 

At the door of the Throne-Room, while the Queen 
was receiving her visitors to-day at the levee, one of the 
gentlemen was stopped, insisting upon keeping his hat 
on (a military chapeau). For a minute the line was in- 
terrupted. Her Majesty and the Prince Consort leaned 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 349 

forward as if to see the cause, and then laughed, ob- 
serving that it was the Earl of Kinsale exercising his 
undoubted hereditary privilege of doing an uncivil and 
ungraceful thing by remaining covered in the presence 
of his sovereign! One would expect of a civilized 
nobility that so indecent a privilege would long since 
have been renounced. In America, the hat must have 
been knocked off the head unscrupulously ; but in re- 
fined England it is a part of the religion of aristocracy 
to preserve, however disgraceful, the usages and traditions 
of mediaeval barbarism. Per sc, the act, performed es- 
pecially before a Lady, is one of Jacobinical rudeness. 
Thus it is that extremes meet. 

Went to Lord Palmerston's at eleven o'clock. Ester- 
hazy seized me here as he had seized me at the levee, 
and talked with the awkward loudness of a deaf man. 

1859. fane 26. — Went by rail to Hatton, the residence 
of the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, Sir Fred- 
erick Pollock, about eighteen miles from London. Met, 

in addition to a most numerous family, Sir Bram- 

well, Justice, and Mr. Oliphant, Lord Elgin's Secretary 
in China. Mr. Seward was there. The Chief Baron 
takes great pride in the arrangements of his house, his 
lawn, shrubbery, and mock ruins ; and he took us to see 
them all. His conservatories are small but numerous, 
and crowded with beautiful fruit, — peaches, nectarines, 
grapes, plums, oranges. His dairy, too, was rich in milk, 
cream, and butter, with large white glass pans. He told me 
he was seventy-six years of age, that he had twenty-three 
sons and daughters, and had married twice. How many 
of his children are by the present Lady Pollock I could 
not venture to inquire; some, of both sexes, seemed to 
be nearly her age. I enjoyed a long conversation with 



350 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

the Chief Baron, dc omnibus rebus et quibusdam aliis, at 
night, after the rest of the guests had returned to London. 
He esteems Jury Trial mainly for its character as an 
equitable tribunal. As a judge he has an established 
reputation for penetrating the truth and making it 
triumph in defiance of technical forms or positive law. 
He repudiated the maxim commonly repeated that Chris- 
tianity was a part of the British law. He is upright, 
laborious, firm, and always merciful. He leaves his 
home regularly at half-past eight a.m., comes to West- 
minster Hall, and remains till four p.m., when he drives 
to Waterloo Station, and reaches his home again in less 
than an hour. Such is his course throughout the year, 
except when on Circuit. He is a great admirer of Mar- 
shall, Kent, Story, and Taney. 

1859. June 27. — Returned from Hatton with the Chief 
Baron this morning. In the afternoon went out to Rich- 
mond Hill to a large dinner of thirty-six given by Lady 
Chantrey, widow of the famous sculptor. The Bishop of 
Winchester was there, and introduced himself to me as 
a warm friend of my cousin, Alexander Dallas, Rector 
of Wonston. The Bishop of Oxford, the Dean of St. 
Paul's, and a number of other interesting personages 
present. 

The battle of the 24th inst. on the right or western 
bank of the river Mincio has been christened by the 
Moniteur " Solferino," because it was really won by the 
French Emperor's taking that village, leading his army 
in person. It seems, notwithstanding its protracted 
duration and its immense loss of life on both sides, not 
to be decisive. The Austrians recrossed the Mincio at 
the close, the French occupied their positions, and so the 
matter stands. No hurried retreat, and no pursuit. 



AT TBE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 35 I 

1859. June 29. — Mr. Cobden arrived from the United 
States at Liverpool by a Quebec steamer this morning. 
He deliberates whether to accept the Board of Trade 
offered by Lord Palmerston. A politician who deliber- 
ates is, like a woman, lost. 

1859. June 30. — Ball at Buckingham Palace last even- 
ing. Leopold of Belgium, the Count of Flanders, and 
the Prince of Oporto were present. The Prince of 
Wales, too, on his return from Rome and travels, look- 
ing more manly and much improved, though still very 
boyish and undersized. 

Lord Clarence Paget, Milner Gibson, Monckton 
Milnes, and Charles Villiers were surprised by my telling 
them of Cobden's arrival, and a general solicitude spread 
through the ballroom to know if he would enter the 
Cabinet. 

Had a long talk in the refreshment-room with Lord 
Stanley, who begged me to explain the precise principle 
upon which turned the difference between the Douglas 
faction of the Democratic party and the extremists of 
the South. He took it in immediately, and said it was 
a difference fraught with very large, practical conse- 
quences. 

Mr. Cobden's speech, highly complimentary and grate- 
ful towards the United States, appears fully reported in 
the Times of this morning. 

1859. July 4. — Celebration by the American Associa- 
tion in the great hall of St. James's. Mr. Bright made 
a strong and assailable speech ; Mr. Digby Smith, a rabid, 
roaring, Hibernian one ; a gentleman from New York, 
named General Vandenburg, a good-sense one, terribly 
protracted. I spoke briefly and comprehensively in 
response to the first toast, " The Day We Celebrate." 



352 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

1859. July 6. — Dined with the Marquis of Westmin- 
ster. Took in the celebrated and lively Lady Walde- 
grave, wife of Mr. Harcourt. Did not know who she 
was until later at night, but discovered her to be emi- 
nently intelligent and agreeable. She is the attractive 
and fashionable star of Strawberry Hill, Horace Wal- 
pole's place, and the grand-daughter of Sheridan. Had 
a long and animated talk with Mr. Whitbread, grandson 
of the great brewer whom I heard when here in 1 S 1 3—' 14. 
He married an Earl's daughter (Chichester), and is 
twenty-nine. 

Went at eleven o'clock to Lord Lansdowne's, taking 
Carl and Charlotte, whom we left there, and proceeded, 
at twelve, to General Peel's, the ex-War Secretary. 
Fairly fagged out by the day's duties. 

l %59- July 7- — Dined at Lord John Russell's. Met 
the French, Sardinian, Russian, Spanish, and Brazilian 
Ministers. Madame Musurus represented Turkey, her 
husband still in Paris. Countess Persigny sent an 
apology just before we went to dinner. Noticed the re- 
ceipt of a telegram by Lord John while at table, which he 
handed with imperturbable countenance to D'Azeglio; the 
latter became thoughtful and slightly flurried as he read it. 

Went at eleven to Lord Clarence Paget's, the new and 
aspiring Secretary of the Admiralty. Capital music on 
piano, violin, and violoncello. Met Milner Gibson, Sir 
T. Cochrane, Lord Wensleydale, etc. 

1859. J u ty 8. — The papers announce a key to Lord 
John's telegram yesterday, to wit, an armistice agreed 
upon between the Emperors of France and Austria. 
This is a great event, and may suddenly lead to peace. 
It strikes me as singular that Victor Emmanuel is not 
named by Louis Napoleon in his message to the Em- 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 353 

press as a party to the act. May it not have been 
prompted, as a great popular card, by Lord John Rus- 
sell ? It is, in every public aspect, highly beneficial to 
the French cause, and indicates consummate address on 
the part of Bonaparte. The funds are rising rapidly; 
Consols from ninety-three to near ninety-five. 

1859. July 10. — Spent my birthday out of town. 

1859. July 12. — The news of the evening is electrify- 
ing ! The two Emperors at Villafranca have signed a 
peace ! Lombardy ceded to France, to be transferred 
to Sardinia ; Venetia to be formed into an independent 
kingdom for Archduke Maximilian of Austria; the 
Pope's territories guaranteed to him. The whole thing 
has the rapid and surprising air of a harlequinade. 
What is this new, wonderful man contemplating ? His 
fleets are numerous and formidable; they are said to be 
rallying, as to a nucleus, at Cherbourg ; his armies can 
as promptly be transferred from Italy to the opposite 
coasts of the Channel as they were gathered on the 
other side of the Alps. England is not completely 
ready ; does he contemplate an invasion ? If he had a 
ground for quarrel, however slight, I should be inclined 
to that conjecture ; but he has none. To be sure, where 
the will exists there is always a way. He has now 
probably added Austria to Russia and Piedmont as in- 
dissolubly his allies. He returns to Paris by the 15th 
inst. He may be received in triumph, and yet the 
French press intimates discontent with the armistice. 
Let us see what this Aladdin will next attempt. This 
little gem set in the silver sea should be rimmed with 
sentinels. What if she appeal to the United States in 
her extremity? I would reply, ameliorate your civil 
institutions by abolishing your mediaeval oligarchy, and 

31 



354 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

we will defend you ! We would do it and our people 
would like to do it under that condition. 

1859. July 14. — A suspicious apprehension that Bona- 
parte means mischief is felt in all circles. His address 
to his soldiers squints that way. That of the Emperor 
of Austria is more avowed, ascribing his yielding to the 
necessity of a peace, to the desertion of his " natural 
allies." The two principles of despotic and constitu- 
tional government are almost face to face. 

Went to Lord Derby's in the evening — first, however, 
to the two houses of Parliament — accompanied by Gen- 
eral Pierce. In the Lords we luckily timed upon a short 
debate on foreign affairs in which Granville, Derby, 
Brougham, Stratford de Redcliffe, Clanricarde, and 
Malmesbury participated. Lord Stratford de Redcliffe 
assaulted Count Cavour with fierceness as the promoter 
of the revolutionary feelings in Italy, saying that had 
he been the Duke of Tuscany he would have ordered 
his diplomatic representative, sowing sedition as he did, 
hung. Brougham depicted the Peace as a melancholy 
illustration of what government, unlimited monarchy, 
had at last come to in Europe ; it was not the act of a 
Ministry, nor of a Privy Council, nor of diplomatic ad- 
visers, but simply the parol arrangement of two men at a 
personal interview ! 

In the Commons, we heard Lord John Russell for a 
short time on the same topic. Both houses spoke under 
constraint, trying their best to keep unsaid the harsh 
words which the treaty, made in contempt of England 
and Prussia, naturally inspired. 

At night, at Lord Derby's, nearly all the recent Cabinet 
attended, and I had a fair chance to present General 
Pierce. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 355 

1859. July 16. — Went to Lord Palmerston's. A thin 
assemblage, ascribable to the extreme heat. Lord Pal- 
merston invited me to call at Cambridge House to-morrow 
at two, as he wants my ideas respecting the American 
claimant to the sovereignty and domain of one of the 
Feejee Islands. 

1859. July 17. — Went to Cambridge House at two. 
Found Lord Palmerston reading a telegram just received 
from Lisbon, announcing the sudden death, from angina 
pectoris, of the young, handsome, and popular Queen of 
Portugal, to whom we paid our respects at Buckingham 
Palace on the 8th of May, 1858, when she was on her 
way to be married ! 

I left with Lord Palmerston copies of two papers 
explanatory of the Feejee Islands case to which he had 
referred last night. I, also, at his request, gave him 
some views as to the colonizing power of the general 
government. The Constitution contemplated nothing 
of the sort. No act of Congress had created or recog- 
nized a colony. Mr. Calhoun, while Secretary of State, 
in February, 1845, had asked me what was the relation 
of Liberia to the United States, and I had instantly 
replied, "None whatever; it was altogether a private 
enterprise." We had talked of getting the Sandwich 
Islands ; but they would have entered the Confederacy 
as a " new State" or possibly as a " territory." The two 
nearest instances were the settlement at Astoria, and the 
Guano Island provided for by an act of Congress passed 
in the spring of 1856. 

1859. July 23. — An invitation came to us to an "at 
home" at Strawberry Hill, and we went there to-day at 
three. It is about eleven miles from London, at Twick- 
enham, on the Thames, not far from Pope's villa. Lady 



356 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Waldegrave was not so good looking in the sun-glare 
as in the gaslight at the Marquis of Westminster's ; and, 
indeed, the whole visit failed to be as pleasant or inter- 
esting as I expected. The house has been modernized 
by the Countess; and though all its diminutive nooks 
and corners are retained, and as much of Horace Wal- 
pole as a lady could well relish, yet the walls were fresh 
papered, the coloring tone brightened, and many of the 
rooms bedizened, especially with portraits of the hour. 
After examining everything closely, with the aid of Mr. 
Harcourt's guidance, I came to the unexpressed conclu- 
sion that Strawberry Hill contained only two treasures 
which I should care to possess : one, a beautiful portrait 
of " Three Ladies de Waldegrave," by Reynolds ; not 
very handsome in themselves, but exquisitely delineated 
as engaged in reeling off a skein of silk or in writing, and 
with the perfect representation of aristocratic refinement, 
with the old style of powdered, pomatumed pyramid of 
hair, and all in white morning dresses ; the other, an old 
painting, esteemed a production of the year 1422, and 
representing fantastically one of the Kings Henry, with 
numerous sons and wife and daughters, with a wounded 
flying dragon, and angels holding up the tops of rich tents ! 
The Belgian and I were the only members of the Diplo- 
matic Corps present. I had an agreeable conversation 
with Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, who drew my attention 
to the awkward boyishness of the young Duke de 
Chartres, just arrived from the Italian war: his head 
had undergone the close shaving of military discipline, 
which prompted Lord Stratford to say that it had been 
nothing but close shaving the whole campaign ! This 
led to many comments upon the extraordinary spectacle 
presented at the peace-patching breakfast of Villafranca : 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 357 

a scene which I characterized as bringing back upon 
modern Europe the mediaeval barbarism which allowed 
bold barons to distribute vassals and domains as suited 
their fancy. The Count of Paris, Duke d'Aumale, and 
his lively Duchess, the Clarendons, Wensleydales, were 
among the company. There were roomy tents on the 
green for dancing and refreshments. I strolled round 
the grounds to catch an exterior view of the house and 
its site, neither of which struck me as remarkable. 
While rambling, I came upon a party of guests engaged 
in the game of " Aunt Sally" ! 

1859. J ll b' 2 6. — Went in the evening to the opera at 
Covent Garden Theatre. It was the first performance 
of Meyerbeer's new work, " Dinorah, or the Pardon of 
Ploermel." The house was brilliant with fashion and 
crowded. The music did honour to the veteran Maestro, 
who was called upon the stage and loudly applauded 
several times. Madame Miolan Carvalho was the prima, 
and sang, as well as acted, with extraordinary skill, 
power, and beauty. Her figure is rather undersized, but 
her face expressive and handsome. 

1859. July 27. — Our reception thinned by heat. Went 
to Sydney Herbert's at eleven o'clock. A brilliant re- 
union. Asked Baron Cetto to present me to the Duke 
d'Aumale, as the Duchess has invited us to Orleans 
House on Monday next. He intimated his gratification 
at a remark I had made in my table speech on the 4th 
of July last, respecting American gratitude to France for 
revolutionary aid; spoke of the kindness his father and 
brother Joinville had experienced on their visits to the 
United States. I mentioned my having been presented 
to Louis Philippe in 1839, on my return from Russia. 
So we got on very well. 

31* 



358 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

1859. J u ty 2 %- — Lord John Russell's exposition in the 
House this afternoon, on the peace of Villafranca, wanted 
distinctness and energy. The audacity of Louis Napoleon 
seems to cow all others. He appears to have palmed 
upon his younger Imperial brother, at their famous 
breakfast in the House Morreli, as proof of the harsh 
terms which Russia, Prussia, and England were jointly 
prepared to impose upon Francis Joseph, a memorandum 
which originated in his own Bureau of Foreign Affairs 
at Paris, passed to the Embassy here, and which Persigny 
had the dexterity to get Lord John Russell, merely as an 
intermediary, to send to Count D'Apponyi ! This may 
be called, without misnomer, cheating by false pretences 
or tokens. No wonder Louis Napoleon excluded third 
persons from the interview. Had old Hess, or other 
Austrians in possession of common sense, been present, 
he might have asked the awkward but simple question, 
how his Imperial Majesty had ascertained the memoran- 
dum of conditions to be agreed upon by the neutral 
powers ? Francis Joseph's credulity is loyal, almost 
honourable, but it victimized him. 

In the evening, rather late at night, went to Mr. Thomas 
Baring's to meet " The Art Club." This club seems to 
me, like many others of the sort in England, a mere 
plausible screen for periodical dinners. The collection 
of knick-knacks was exhibited on tables running down 
the centre of the Picture-Gallery. Some ancient dishes 
of Dresden ware, one of which was estimated as worth 
£600, or $3000; much antique jewelry and bronze; 
carvings of various descriptions on ivory; and many 
little curious articles, doubtless gloated over by antiqua- 
ries, all pretty, and all the prettier because of Mr. Baring's 
capital entertainment ! Among the most successful of 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 359 

the collectors on this occasion was a Mr. Barker, who, 
according to the account given of him to me by Sir 
David Dundas, was not unlike Mr. Everett's Thomas 
Dowse, having been a bootmaker and devoted to the 
accumulation of rare and pretty things. Had the Club 
assembled at the Marquis of Salisbury's or the Marquis 
of Westminster's, we should probably have had a deluge 
of dilettante Peers; but Mr. Baring is not of the order, 
and so we were indulged with a sprinkling only. Lords 
Lansdowne and Lyveden, Mr. Winthrop, Mr. Balch, Mr. 
Motley, and Mr. Cropsey were there. 

Sat for an hour this morning before Church's " Heart 
of the Andes." The person in attendance said that 
Lansdowne had called it a wonderful picture, and Stan- 
ley, w r ho some years ago crossed the South American 
Cordilleras, had characterized it as a faithful portrait. I 
am no enthusiast, and very little of a connoisseur, but I 
can sink into the scenery of this painting with absorbed 
delight. 

1859. July 29. — My weekly day of labour, exclusively 
devoted to preparing the despatch-bag for home. 

Took Mr. Winthrop to the House of Lords in the 
evening. A neat, short debate on the proposition intro- 
duced by Lord Ebury for a commission to amend the 
Liturgy. Why can't they, as we have, drop the Atha- 
nasian Creed ? It is as savagely fulminatory as Pius the 
Ninth's last manifesto. The Archbishop of Canterbury, 
the Bishop of London, Lord Brougham, Lord Dun- 
gannon, Lord Redesdale, and, of course, Lord Ebury, 
spoke on the occasion. So did the Duke of Newcastle, 
who protested against Brougham's doctrine of leaving 
the subject exclusively to the clergy. The laity were 
deeply interested. I heard the Bishop of London for 



360 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

the first time, and was struck by the clear, tranquil, 
argumentative, and impressive tone of his eloquence. 
The matter was dismissed to next session of Parliament. 

1859. July 30. — Sir Henry Holland called casually. 
He startled me by immediately commenting upon the ap- 
pearance of my eyes. My friend John Y. Mason once 
told me that he saw in my eyes unmistakable symptoms 
of a disease against which his own father had struggled 
for years, but which finally mastered and killed him. 
Well! precaution is right, and death, some time or 
other, for some cause or other, quite inevitable. 

The concluding article in the last Quarterly Reviezv, 
headed "The Invasion of England," breathes alarm, 
despondency, almost despair. There is yet a vast deal 
of common sense in its treatment of the essentially mili- 
tary spirit of France, of the exaltation given by the 
Italian battles to the aspirations of Louis Napoleon, of 
his consistent and constant warnings, in his early and 
latest givings out, that he was the destined avenger of 
St. Helena, of his vast naval preparations, and, what is 
worse, of the unprepared condition of England either on 
land or at sea. The case is one of judicial blindness in the 
Whigs and Liberals. The catastrophe is awful to con- 
template ; but who can say, as he casts his eye along the 
bloody tracks of England round the earth, that it will 
not be the decree of a just Providence? Nations may, 
like individuals, be weighed in the balance, found want- 
ing, and doomed at the moment of ostentatious self- 
eulogy. 

1859. August 1. — Earl of Minto, father of Lady John 
Russell, died yesterday. He was a useful adjunct or 
subordinate in public life, but not much per se. He 
undertook an interesting mission to Rome, at a time 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 36 1 

when Pius the Ninth was liberally inclined, and bungled 
dreadfully in it. 

Went at four p.m. to Orleans House, at Twickenham. 
Near here, at Claremont, it was that Louis Philippe 
closed his life. It is now the residence of his remaining 
family, particularly of the Duke and Duchess d'Aumale, 
Duke de Chartres, and Count de Paris. Its locale is 
beautiful, with the Thames in front, and a well-arranged 
park. The distance from London is ten miles. The 
company was numerous, but never appeared so, because 
much scattered through the grounds. Met Lord Strat- 
ford de Redcliffe, Monckton Milnes, Panizzi, Earl Powys, 
Tricoupi, Mr. Byng, Motley, etc. The Duke is pre- 
possessing in look and manner, is thirty-seven years of 
age, and appears even younger. The King's widow, 
Amelie, is still living at Claremont, aged seventy-seven. 
Two noble busts of Conde and Turenne in the gallery 
of Orleans House. 

1859. August 2. — Went in the evening to the Duchess 
of Inverness's, at Kensington Palace. A gay and bril- 
liant dancing party. The Duke and Duchess d'Aumale 
were doubtless its object. I had considerable conversa- 
tion with the Pretender to the throne of France, Count 
of Paris, and found him a plain, unaffected young man. 
He was born on the 24th of August, 1838, and lacks, 
therefore, three weeks of being of age. He is the son of 
Louis Philippe's eldest, prince royal, who died in 1842, 
and is the one in whose favour his grandfather abdicated 
in 1848. The Duke de Chartres is his younger brother. 
He expressed a hope that the name of his family was 
not unpopular in the United States, and recurred to the 
visits paid to us by Louis Philippe and his uncle Joinville. 
He has a lisp, or, more properly, a labial twist, which 



362 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

occasionally makes his utterance, at least in the English 
language, indistinct. Met here Lord Chancellor Camp- 
bell, Earl Stratford de Redcliffe, Lord Hanover (late Sir 
Benjamin Hall), the Sardinian Minister, the Hanse 
Towns ; the Bavarian, etc. 

1859. August 6. — Mr. Geo. W. Biddle, Mr. Joseph A. 
Clay, and Mr. Junkin, members of the bar of Philadel- 
phia, dined with us to-day, yielding most welcome chat 
about the changes and improvements at home. Mr. 
Meredith's physical condition is very sad. 

1859. August 13. — Parliament was prorogued this 
afternoon by Lords Commissioners to October 27 next. 
London has been getting dull these ten days ; it will 
now soon be cheerless. We are meditating a trip to 
Brighton, and a stay of five or six weeks. 

1859. August 14. — The sad, though expected, news of 
Mr. Richard Rush's death reached us this morning. He 
was seventy-nine. His was a well-balanced, painstaking, 
polished mind. He idolized my father, and thence was 
always partial to me. Until within a year or two he has 
been hardly tried by scanty means. He was a faithful 
and affectionate husband and father. 

1859. August 20. — Bonaparte has issued a decree, 
dated 16th inst., amnestying all political offences, and 
restoring all Frenchmen to their country. This embraces 
V. Hugo, Louis Blanc, Lamoriciere, and Changarnier, 
and a thousand others. In a letter published in the 
Times of yesterday, Louis Blanc rejects the " pardon," 
and prefers freedom in England to slavery in France. 
A subsequent decree annuls all warnings or " aver- 
tissements " given to newspapers : regarded as an ap- 
proach to the reinstatement of a certain amount of the 
liberty of the press. These are acts calculated to 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 363 

conciliate popularity for a tremendous military des- 
potism. 

On the 17th inst, Mr. Cobden had a soiree at Roch- 
dale, and on the 18th met his constituents for the first 
time since his election to Parliament. He was chosen 
while yet absent on a visit to the United States. He has 
delivered two capital speeches, — the first on the corrup- 
tion at elections and on Foreign Affairs, the second 
almost exclusively on Reform. In the former, he gave 
his reasons for declining the Presidency of the Board of 
Trade when offered by Lord Palmerston ; and these rea- 
sons, purely personal to himself, are stated in language 
and tone so frank and conciliatory that one can't help 
feeling that he will be in the Cabinet before the year is 
out. 

1859. October 9. — After a hiatus of nearly two months, 
I resume the journal. It is well to begin by recalling 
some incidents and dates which I do not wish to forget. 

On the 24th of August, the family went to Brighton, 
in which beautiful city I had engaged a house, at seven 
guineas a week, for four weeks, being No. I, Portland 
Place, on the Marine Parade. The frontage on the sea is 
finer than anything I have ever seen. The town struck 
us as singularly clean. The Esplanade, the Parade, the 
bathing beach, the pier, the Pavilion, and several churches, 
very handsome. We visited and were delighted with 
the Devil's Dyke, a strange but apparently natural exca- 
vation about five miles to the west, and from the summit 
of the hill adjoining, on which stands the inn, we wit- 
nessed a vastly extensive prospect. The Downs in the 
neighborhood were resources for exercise, and afforded 
picturesque views without number. 

On the 2 1st of September we returned to London. 



364 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Our home had been freshened and furbished in our ab- 
sence, and certain repairs in drainage accomplished which 
had been much wanted. 

Mr. John Y. Mason died in Paris on the morning of 
October 3d. His body is to be sent to the family vault 
in Virginia ; a funeral service was performed over it, at 
which an immense concourse of Americans attended, 
and whose solemnity was greatly increased by the pres- 
ence in procession of a large body of troops contributed 
by the Imperial authorities. 

It was during our stay at Brighton, and while we were 
hourly looking out to see the Great Eastern on her way 
past us to Portland, that she exploded most destruc- 
tively one of her flues, off the town of Hastings. 

I have waited impatiently for instructions on the course 
to be taken about General Harney's military occupation 
of San Juan in July last, and only received yesterday a 
partial statement from General Cass. It is obvious that 
there exists no intention to allow my participating in the 
negotiation. 

1859. October 10. — The murder of Colonel Aviti by 
the mob at Parma, on the 6th inst, is a most unfortunate 
as well as criminal act; for it is the first piece of violence 
which the revolution has committed, and it may produce 
general alarm. Thus it is that a great national cause is 
sometimes cruelly injured by the intemperance of those 
on whose behalf chiefly it is agitated. 

1859. October 17. — Mr. Robert Stephenson, the dis- 
tinguished engineer, died on Wednesday last, and is to 
be buried in Westminster Abbey. 

The reply of Napoleon the Third to the address of 
the Cardinal Archbishop of Bordeaux, which indicates a 
determination to withdraw all protection from the Pope 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 36$ 

unless he agrees to administrative reforms, is producing 
great excitement, and has been followed up by an " in- 
vitation " to the newspapers not to publish any more of 
the inflammatory "pastorals " of the Bishops. A relig- 
ious opposition party in France cannot but be dangerous 
to the Dynasty. 

Sir Henry Holland returned yesterday from his visit 
to the United States. He was absent exactly eight 
weeks. Went first to Canada, and travelled three hun- 
dred miles up the Ottawa River. Thence proceeded as 
far south as Charleston. Was at Washington five days, 
staying with the President at the Soldiers' Home. He 
is warm in eulogy of General Cass. The President had 
read to him his instructions to General Scott and his 
reproof of General Harney ! 

1859. October 24. — The weather is becoming uncom- 
fortably cold. A smart frost last night. There were 
Cabinet and Privy Councils every day last week, a de- 
gree of activity suggesting the probability of internal 
dissension. It is difficult, indeed, to see how, on the 
indispensable measure of Parliamentary reform, such 
inveterate adherents to rotten boroughs as Lord Pal- 
merston and Mr. Gladstone can harmonize with Milner 
Gibson, Lord Clarence Paget, Charles Villiers, and other 
colleagues. The Irish Prelates, too, in their efforts 
against the national educational system, are backed by a 
large body of the Irish members of the House, and the 
policy adopted on this question, if not most carefully 
considered, may endanger the government. Still, there 
is ample explanation of these conferences in the unset- 
tled and somewhat menacing condition of continental 
politics. 

During last week, Count Colloredo, the representative 

32 



366 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

of Austria at Zurich, had his second and probably his 
fatal blow of apoplexy. 

The telegram of this morning announces the declara- 
tion of war, on the 22d of this month, by Spain against 
Morocco. The declaration appears to have consisted of 
an executive or ministerial communication to the Cortes, 
to that effect. Nothing can be more obvious than that 
this movement is impelled by the policy, the far-reaching 
and still secret policy, of Louis Napoleon. It must lead 
to a breach with England, who cannot bear the idea of 
seeing the Mediterranean converted into a French lake, 
nor the Rock of Gibraltar endangered. A breach he 
wants, and will have, as soon as his naval armada is 
complete. 

What is it that has prevented the access of Prince Na- 
poleon to the Queen? He has been in England for a 
week ; his coming was preluded by the announcement in 
the public journals that he meditated meeting her Maj- 
esty when she made her visit to the Great Eastern at 
Holyhead. Her Majesty abstained from this visit, and 
he has returned to Paris, ignored by British royalty. 
Rather odd as between the dear allies ! 

In burying Mr. Robert Stephenson, the body was ad- 
mitted by a small back door, it being proclaimed that 
the great entrance on such occasions was opened only to 
royalty and nobility! Thus even in death the ruling 
passion is fed. 

1859. October 29. — Mr. R. Schleiden, the diplomatic 
representative of the republic of Bremen at Washington, 
is on his return to his post, after an absence of six 
months, and called to-day. He tells me that he has 
made it a point, while visiting a number of the Conti- 
nental Courts, to ascertain from the most enlightened 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. $6j 

public men the opinion existing as to the proper course 
for the United States to pursue in reference to the occu- 
pation of San Juan by Harney ; and that there was but 
one sentiment on the subject, namely, that the American 
government, disclaiming and condemning the act as it 
does, should restore the status ante. Stay till they see 
the peremptory and presumptuous letter of Lord John 
Russell to Lord Lyons, of the 24th of August last, 
written before the proceeding of General Harney was 
known, and in which the determination to have the 
island at every cost is expressed. When that is carefully 
considered, the United States may well regard it as a 
defiance of all investigation, compromise, and um- 
pirage, and a justification for not restoring the status 
quo, but keeping what they have, at least in joint occu- 
pancy. 

Donald McKay, the shipwright, also called. He has 
been remonstrating at Lloyds against an exclusion of 
American-built ships from their insurance classifications. 
It was asserted they were thoroughly examined and 
found wanting in strength and durability. The truth, 
however, is that the exclusion is founded on the desire 
to discriminate in favour of British bottoms. He prom- 
ises to write and print a pamphlet to disprove the pre- 
tence. He instanced a particular vessel classed as A. 
No. 1 ; and asked why the exception? they replied that 
she was owned by English merchants. " Yes," said 
Donald, "that's true; but she was built by me, and is 
certainly not as strong as many a ship I have already 
built and can still build." The Directors were called 
together, and Donald was dreadfully outvoted ! 

Mr. Bates came in. He told me that when the Treaty 
of 1846 was negotiating, he was constantly conversing 



368 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

upon the subject with Lord Aberdeen or Mr. McLane; 
that there was but one channel contemplated as the 
boundary, that of the Haro ; that such was the view of 
both these gentlemen and himself; he added, besides, 
you deflected from the forty-ninth parallel only to let us 
have the whole of Vancouver's Island, with that excep- 
tion there was to be no deflection. 

1859. November 3. — A European Congress would 
seem to be finally agreed upon. The Emperor has ad- 
dressed to King Victor Emmanuel, under date of the 20th 
of October last (the day after the signature of the treaty 
at Zurich), a vigorous letter which discloses his intended 
course of policy as to Italian affairs, and calls upon his 
" brother" to follow suit. It may be regarded as a pro- 
gramme of proceedings at the Congress. It amounts 
to stern intervention in the settlement of matters in the 
Peninsula, the restoration of the Duke of Tuscany, the 
translation of the Duchess of Parma to Modena, the 
establishment of the Confederation presided by the Pope, 
etc. Will England assist in this by her presence at the 
Congress? I think her fears of invasion, combined with 
the subserviency of her present statesmen to her great 
military ally, will lead her to do so. He is joining his 
forces with hers in the new expedition to revenge the 
disaster at the mouth of the Pei-Ho ; and yet he is egging 
on Spain to invade Morocco, both with munitions of war 
and money; he is openly encouraging Lesseps to hold 
on to his project of a canal at the Isthmus of Suez, and 
he is about to establish a French naval station in the 
Red Sea ! Should England have her Plenipotentiary at 
the Congress, he will either compel her to the humiliat- 
ing course of surrendering her principles and sympathies 
as to Italy, or he will force a quarrel upon her in which 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 369 

she will be almost isolated, and then his ultimate plan of 
invasion will be ready for execution. 

The Greek Minister called, and we had a long chat. 
Ke represents Turkey to be in a bad way. She has for 
three years in succession evaded her engagement with 
Greece to suppress the brigandage in Albania; she first 
has not troops ready, then she requires barracks for them, 
and again her finances are disordered. This last excuse 
Tricoupi thinks is the secret of the business, and he con- 
siders the emptiness of the treasury ascribable solely to 
the wanton extravagance of the Sultan. In the course 
of conversation he remarked that there was less cordi- 
ality than usual between the Foreign Office and the 
French Ambassador ; Persigny seemed restless and was 
unwilling to remain in London. 

The alleged insurrection and seizure of the Arsenal 
at Harper's Ferry, of which we received an imperfect 
account last week, remains still a source of anxiety. 

Several fatal storms have recently caused many disas- 
ters on the coasts ; one of them wrecked the Royal 
Charter from Australia with a host of passengers on 
board, and nearly did the same for the Great Eastern 
riding near the Breakwater at Holyhead. The Channel 
fleet, too, was in great danger off the Scilly Light, and 
was only saved by consummate old English seamanship. 

1859. November 5. — General Cass's despatch to me, 
answering the one written by Lord John Russell on the 
24th of August last to Lord Lyons, is masterly and 
conclusive. But all such papers only make more obsti- 
nate the controversialists. I am sometimes inclined to 
think that where people do not really wish to fight they 
should proscribe the pen, and confine their interchange 
of views exclusively to conversation. Lord John will 

33* 



370 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

fume mightily. As to being convinced by the resistless 
reasoning, what angry man ever was? or, rather, if he 
inwardly felt conviction, would he not the more violently 
disclaim it? This argument, unless I can manage to 
give it a safer direction and character, will be protracted 
from year to year, its bitterness augmenting with every 
fresh elaborate paper pellet, until the two nations will 
be brought to war for a patch of valueless earth some- 
where in the moon. 

1859. November 12. — A long interview at the Foreign 
Office, — specially as to our title to San Juan. I denom- 
inate the idea of returning back after following the forty- 
ninth parallel to middle of channel as an absurdity not 
justly imputable to the negotiation. 

1859. November 25. — Went last night to the Russian 
Embassy. The new Persian Minister there. A small but 
agreeable party. Lord John talked to me freely about 
Scott and Harney. Lady William Russell, recently 
from Rome, said she kneiv Garibaldi had been invited 
by Louis Napoleon to Compiegne. All through Italy 
the 'people were in the habit of saying, " Oh, if we 
could only find a Washington !" Thus far Garibaldi 
has shown much of that texture, and yet he has found 
it necessary to throw up his military commission. He 
and Fanti perhaps did not agree. It is said Bonaparte re- 
quired Victor Emmanuel to dismiss him, as a preliminary 
to the recognition of Buoncompagni's Regency. Sir G. 
Grey, Lord and Lady Wodehouse, Mr. Tricoupi, Mr. 
Rucker, the new Neapolitan Minister, and his pretty wife, 
Marquis D'Azeglio, and Baron Stieglitz (le jeune) were 
also at Brunow's. 

1859. December I. — A singularly luxurious dinner at 
the Russian Embassy. Every dish was new and exqui- 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 371 

site. Mrs. Dallas and I decide that Baron Brunow must 
have enlisted the cook of Count Nesselrode, whose pro- 
ductions we so well remember. To-day the company 
exclusively diplomatic : Brunow and Baronne Cetto, 
Mine. Brunow and Musurus, Cetto and Mrs. Dallas, 
I and Miss Tricoupi, Von Dorkum and Miss Dallas, 
coteries, secretaries and attaches. In the evening, up- 
stairs, a larger number, — French Ambassador, Bernstorff 
and Countess, Sir Roderick Murchison, the fresh Per- 
sians, etc. 

1859. December 3. — First "at home" at Cambridge 
House. Lord Palmerston looks fagged and older; but 
his personal appearance is very changeable. A much 
larger company than could have been expected at this 
season. In tact Lady Palmerston is unrivalled. I chat- 
ted principally with the Duchesses Argyll and Som- 
erset, and Milner Gibson. The Duchess of Argyll re- 
quested me to send such of the printed proceedings of 
the Harper's Ferry trials as I had, and she would then 
be able to judge whether I was impartial in speaking of 
them as conducted with dignity, fairness, and humanity. 
She is her mother's daughter, and probably ardently 
" Uncle Tom ;" but much more attractive and rational 
than the Duchess of Sutherland. Without concealing 
her own anti-slavery opinions, and certainly without 
maintaining them by a look or word disagreeably, the 
Duchess manifested a rare acquaintance with the present 
features of our home politics. Talked to Delane, of the 
Times ; asked me if I had anything new from the north- 
west. "Nothing, except by the newspapers." " What! 
you read newspapers ?" " Certainly. I get all my knowl- 
edge and ideas from them, square myself by every new 
view they take, have faith in them as unerring!" "I 



3/2 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

wish," said he, " that Harney was dead !" " Not quite just 
or benevolent," I replied. " Harney is a gallant soldier; 
exhibited bravery and skill in our Mexican war; may 
have been indiscreet, and laid himself open to reprimand 
for suddenly breeding a quarrel between two nations ; 
but," I continued, preparing to leave my arrow in the 
bull's-eye, " if he has done a thoughtless thing, he is no 
filibuster, and they who speak and write of him as an 
' American filibuster' do him no harm, but raise the 
character of the filibuster." The justice of the remark 
gave it point : it was allowed to close the conversa- 
tion. 

1859. December 5. — Receiving a telegram from Ports- 
mouth that a violent mutiny had broken out on board 
the Sea-Serpent, a large ship belonging to Grinnell & 
Minturn, of New York, which had recently left London 
for Hong Kong, and was brought to anchor offSpithead 
by bad weather, I immediately wrote to Lord John 
Russell, requesting the Admiralty to authorize Admiral 
Bowles to assist the civil power in suppressing the 
outbreak. To-day I have the written assurance that 
Admiral Bowles has been empowered to act, and will 
employ her Majesty's ship Fawn for the purpose. The 
rebellious crew are thirty strong. If they are country- 
men of mine and have been ill-treated and oppressed, 
they will resist, especially if English marines are used. 
Hence my anxiety. 

1859. December 6. — Consul Thompson and Captain 
Whitmore are full of thanks. The mutiny was thor- 
oughly quelled, without an act of violence or bloodshed. 
The crew, it appears, were shipped here, one or two only 
being American. The ship will sail for China, all right, 
to-morrow. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 373 

1859. December 8. — Had a visit from Mr. Louis Kos- 
suth, the first time since I came to England. He is 
more interesting now than ever. Much subdued, obvi- 
ously by poverty and disappointment, but still the pol- 
ished gentleman who is unable to repress his oratorical 
speech and gesture. Beard and head tinged with gray. 
His dress full black and irreproachably genteel. His 
eye bright and expressive when speaking, at other mo- 
ments rather dull, small, and dejected. He has asked 
me a favour on behalf of his distinguished countryman, 
General Vetter, who goes to Turin in the course of three 
or four days, and if I find I can properly grant it he 
shall be gratified, notwithstanding his loan-notes and 
muskets. The man, whatever faults may be charged to 
him, is unquestionably a devoted patriot, and patriotism 
is honoured all the world over. 

Went to-night to the Lord Chancellor's. Met a small 
company, of no interest except the one arising out of 
the presence of the very Rev. Dr. R. C. Trench, Dean 
of Westminster Abbey, whose acute books on " Words" 
have often delighted me. The Lord Chancellor's soiree 
quite overshadowed by one at the Russian Minister's. 

1859. December 11. — The fog is so dense and dark 
that I have had to use lighted candles all day while 
writing or reading. 

Sir H. Holland chatted a half-hour. He tells me, 
though he disclaims official authority for it, that Lord 
Wodehouse will go to the Congress with Lord Cowley. 
We agree that it may be part of the policy of the Cabi- 
net here to treat the Congress with indifference. 

1859. December 18. — Forty or fifty thousand persons 
— men, women, and children — availing themselves of the 
fine skating and sliding upon the Serpentine and the 



374 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Park lakes. The thermometer lower than has been 
known for a series of years. 

1859. December 22. — An extraordinary manifesto 
comes from Paris. It professes to be, under the head- 
ing of" Le Pape et le Congres," a political essay, signed 
by M. de la Gueronniere, the same writer who fathered the 
pamphlet of " Napoleon III et l'ltalie," at the beginning 
of this year. No one doubts that both brochures are 
substantially revelations of the Imperial policy. This 
one removes much of the uncertainty which has pre- 
vailed for three months past as to the real views of 
Bonaparte respecting the Dukes, the Romagnese, and 
the Pontiff. No force to restore the first, nor to compel 
the second to return to their allegiance to Pius IX. ; and, 
as to the temporal power of the Holy Father, he is to 
be left a full sovereign, with a splendid court, abundant 
revenues from the Catholic States, the wonders of art, 
the precious relics, the Vatican, and magnificent cere- 
monials, all limited, however, to the municipal bounda- 
ries of the Eternal City ! This is an elaboration of 
About's idea : " for the Pope, Rome and a garden." 
Mother Church must through all her universal ramifica- 
tions tremble with indignation at this disposition of the 
Infallible. If Louis Napoleon wears no cuirass, he had 
better regard every approaching priest as a Ravaillac. 

1859. December 24. — Went to the National Gallery 
and spent some time before the three paintings recently 
there: 1. The altar-piece of the Chapel of Rabecchino, 
by Ambrogio Borgognone, representing the marriage of 
St. Catherine of Alexandria ; several entire figures as 
large as life ; the Saviour in an attitude somewhat harsh ; 
four panels to the right and left of the principal picture 
are filled each with a saint; the work dates 1490 and 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 375 

1522. 2. Two elaborate landscapes by Ruysdael ; 
waterfalls, fine trees, and in each centre a rickety bridge 
from bank to bank. 

1859. December 29. — Macaulay, the historian, essayist, 
orator, and poet, died yesterday at his house at Camp- 
den Hill, two miles out of London. He was born in 
1800, therefore but fifty-nine years old; was raised to 
the peerage, avowedly for literary ability, since I have 
been here, some time in 1857. I have met him often, 
and was always pleased with his cordiality, and struck 
with the quick fulness of his conversation. 

i860. January 2. — On this day week Macaulay will 
be interred in Westminster Abbey, Poets' Corner. It 
is said that he has left his copyrights to his niece, who 
married a son of Sir Henry Holland. 

i860. January 6. — The French Emperor has accepted 
the resignation of his Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
Walewski. This is universally considered a decisive 
" coup" as to the Italian policy. The Moniteur of yes- 
terday contained the decree and the appointment of 
Thouvenel as successor, — Baroche, ad interim. How 
completely Louis Napoleon has made himself the centre 
of European attraction and repulsion ! 

Went this evening to the Duchess of Inverness's. A 
young dancing party. Had a long and interesting 
chat with the Lord Chancellor. He spoke of the 
kind manner in which his books were treated by my 
countrymen. I told him that no American gentleman 
failed to have a copy of his " Lives of the Chancellors 
and Chief Justices." 

i860. January 8. — Returned late to-night from Mr. 
Bates's (Sheen), whither Mrs. Dallas and Sophie accom- 
panied me to dinner yesterday. Met there the interest- 



376 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

ing family of poor Leslie the painter, his widow, daugh- 
ter, and son, still in deep mourning. Also Dr. Owen, with 
his wife and son. The great naturalist was more than 
usually interesting. He described to me with lively elo- 
quence his having just received the first specimen that 
ever reached Europe from Madagascar of the Aye-Aye. 
He pronounced it of the monkey tribe, and not, as com- 
monly stated, of the rat genus. 

i860. January 9. — Philip attended the burial of Ma- 
caulay to-day in Poets' Corner. He describes the 
cold and rankness as being extremely uncomfortable. 
The pall-bearers were Lord Chancellor Campbell, Earl 
Shelburne, Earl Stanhope, Sir Henry Holland, Lord 
John Russell, Duke of Argyll, Earl of Carlisle, Bishop 
of Oxford, Sir David Dundas, and Dr. Milman. In- 
scription on coffin : " The Right Honourable Thomas 
Babington Macaulay, Baron Macaulay of Rothley. 
Born 25th Oct., 1800; died 28th Dec, 1859." 

i860. January 11. — The President's Message appears 
in full in all the morning papers. There are many 
admirable passages in it. I. The salutary effect of 
Brown's foray is announced confidently. 2. So, too, the 
decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case 
is announced as settling " irrevocably" the question of 
slavery in the Territories. 3. A capital transfer of all 
responsibility for the continuance of the trade is made to 
England in the quiet remark that Cuba is the" only spot 
on earth" where it is tolerated, and " this in defiance of 
treaties with a power abundantly able at any moment 
to enforce their execution." 4. Harney is generously 
treated. His grounds of action are stated from his report 
to Scott, and he is called the " gallant general." 5. As 
to the Island itself, the President emphatically says he 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 377 

"entertains no doubt of the validity of our title." 6. 
The rapid recovery of the finances is clearly sketched, 
as is, in opening, the "special favour of Divine Provi- 
dence" in the continued prosperity of the Republic. All 
the views are judicious and sound about this country, 
Mexico, and China. An only exception is in the case of 
Spain, whose filibustering against Morocco I should have 
been pleased to see held up as an example not unworthy 
of being followed. Another passage, though eminently 
just, wherein the Message is speaking of the power of 
public opinion to arrest the dangerous progress of abo- 
litionism, is perhaps misplaced in an Executive document 
addressed to Congress, and coming from high official 
place may awaken the cry of persecution, and defeat its 
own purpose. 

i860. January 15. — At an interview with Sir George 
C. Lewis at the Home Office, I yesterday commenced a 
project the success of which I have much at heart, that 
of a Consular Convention. This government is gradu- 
ally perceiving that the cruelties committed on board of 
American vessels bound to England are in reality en- 
couraged by the facility with which our seamen are 
enabled to avoid recapture on desertion, and to escape 
the punishment of crimes on the high seas. Mr. 
Buchanan in vain tried to remedy the mischief in nego- 
tiating with Lord Clarendon. I think Sir George Lewis 
sees the subject in its true light, and won't allow himself 
to be overruled, as his Lordship was, by the technicalities 
of Sir Richard Bethel. 

i860. January 20. — Count Persigny called and sat a 
half-hour. Experience led me to suspect at once that 
his purpose was to eulogize and develop his Emperor's 
scheme of free trade as conveyed to Mr. Achille Fould 

33 



378 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

in a sort of disquisition printed in the Moniteur of 15th 
inst., and so it turned out. But he went farther than I 
could have expected, and claimed the whole movement 
as having originated with himself. He had elaborated all 
the details, had urged them upon his Majesty for five years, 
had enlisted the co-operation of Monsieur Chevallier; 
and his exultation might be imagined. England was a 
wise and generous nation, and France, now devoted to 
peace, progress, and internal improvement, would be 
more closely cemented to her than ever. Their manu- 
facturing classes and the iron-masters would complain 
and resist; but they were rascally vampires, sucking the 
blood of the people, and would have no power to arrest 
the policy. As soon as the Count had poured out what 
it was obvious he was determined to say, I ventured to 
compliment him for the great public service he had ren- 
dered, and explained, to his surprise, the particular reason 
why I personally sympathized with the proceeding. 

i860. January 23. — The new Treaty of Commerce 
between this country and France was signed this after- 
noon by the Plenipotentiaries in Paris. This fact was 
communicated to me by the Lord Chancellor, whom I 
met at Lady Palmerston's. It is Louis Napoleon's first 
decisive step towards Free Trade, and the English are 
very proud of their convert. 

i860. January 24. — The Queen's speech, on opening 
Parliament to-day, was more interesting than usual. It 
leaves the Congress — nowhere. It goes the full figure for 
the right of the Italians to choose their own government. 
It rather implies a silent undercurrent of pacific intentions 
as to China, notwithstanding the armaments here and in 
France. It anticipates a commercial treaty with France, 
which is, in fact, free trade policy for the latter. As to 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 379 

the United States, we have so long been weaned of any 
notion that a royal address would condescend to notice 
us unless we are at war with the sovereign, that I was 
surprised with the following paragraph : " An unauthor- 
ized proceeding by an officer of the United States in 
regard to the Island of San Juan might have led to a 
serious collision between my forces and those of the 
United States. Such collision, however, has been pre- 
vented by the judicious forbearance of my naval and 
civil officers on the spot, and by the equitable and concil- 
iatory provisional arrangement proposed on this matter 
by the government of the United States." — Spectator, 
January 28, i860. 

i860. January 26. — Dined with Lord John Russell. 
Bernstorff, Lavradio, Lord Minto, Mr. Ashley (son of 
Lord Shaftesbury), a Mr. Russell, Countess Bernstorff, 
Mrs. Dallas, Lady John and Misses Russell composed 
the party. A poor dinner and intolerably dull. I was, 
however, rewarded by a long chat with mine host when 
we got to coffee, up-stairs. 

i860. January 27. — Went to the House of Commons 
to hear Monckton Milnes interpellate Lord John Russell 
as to what the government had done, since the adjourn- 
ment, upon the subject of the address voted to the Queen 
respecting the cruelties practised on board merchantmen 
on the high seas. Rather awkward to find myself alone 
in the diplomatic gallery listening to the following ( Tunes 
January 28, i860) : 

" Lord John Russell said he presumed it was not ex- 
pected he should go into a detailed explanation of the state 
of Italy, but, with respect to the question of the honour- 
able member, he did not believe there was any truth in 
the statement that thirty thousand French troops were 



380 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

expected at Leghorn, and certainly he had no reason to 
believe that the French government would take any such 
step for the purpose of preventing the annexation of the 
central provinces to Sardinia. On the contrary, he consid- 
ered such a statement highly improbable. His honourable 
friend (Mr. Monckton Milnes) had asked a question of 
great interest and importance, with regard to which the 
House agreed to an address last year. When that ad- 
dress was brought to him, he immediately communicated 
with his right honourable friend, the Secretary of State 
for the Home Department, who was of opinion that it 
would be of advantage if an experienced lawyer of the 
United States were sent over, and negotiations conducted 
here. He wrote accordingly to Lord Lyons on the 
subject, and received an answer that, in the opinion of 
the American government, negotiations could not be 
intrusted to better hands than those of the able and 
enlightened representative of the United States in this 
country, Mr. Dallas. His right honourable friend had 
since had an interview with Mr. Dallas. They, as well 
as every man in that House, and, no doubt, every man 
in America, were anxious that some remedy should be 
found for a state of things which must be shocking to 
humanity. They were agreed upon the principle upon 
which the remedy ought to be applied, and were now en- 
gaged in drawing up the draught of a convention for the 
purpose of applying it. It would be premature to state now 
the principle of the convention, but when it was ratified, 
no time would be lost in bringing in a bill with the view 
of attaining an object which all must desire." 

i860. January 30. — Met Lord Elgin while walking in 
Regent Street. Congratulated him on having such a 
skilful as well as honest chronicler as Laurence Oliphant. 






AT THE COUNT OF ST. JAMES. 38 1 

He was surprised that I had already read the book. He 
expressed himself greatly distressed at what had occurred 
in China since he left there. Whether this distress was 
at the defeat of the Allies off the Pei-Ho forts, or at the 
folly of his brother, Mr. Bruce, in provoking that con- 
test, was not apparent. 

i860. February 1. — A long and interesting visit from 
Sir John Bowring yesterday. He is obviously an able 
and well-informed man, but, I suspect, one of quick 
temper and doubtful judgment. 

The letter addressed by the Pope to the Cardinals, 
Bishops, etc., of the Roman Church, taking a decided 
attitude against the policy and proposals of the " mighty 
and " serene" Emperor, opens a long vista of serious 
consequences. It bears date the 19th of January, i860. 
One of its first effects is seen in the suppression of the 
devoted Papal journal, PUnivers, edited by Veuillot; an 
act clearly justified by a clause of the French constitu- 
tion prohibiting the reception or publication of addresses 
from the Holy Father without assent of government. 
LUuivers had contained it. Napoleon appeals to the 
historical loyalty of the Gallican Church, and he may 
not appeal in vain. 

Dined to-day with the Duke of Argyll and his really 
beautiful and intelligent Duchess. There was a com- 
pany of about fourteen, of whom four were ladies. Mr. 
Thackeray was at table. So also a clergyman, son of 
Sir John Sinclair, a correspondent of General Washing- 
ton, with whom I had a long talk when we went to 
coffee, and who, in recounting his experiences on visiting 
the United States, made a complete higgledy-piggledy 
of dates and great men. On meeting Thackeray, I said, 
gravely and warmly, too, " I feel much obliged to you !" 



382 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

He gazed at me for a moment, as if he expected a 
reproof for something, and then, suddenly recollecting 
himself, smiled and replied, " Oh ! Ah ! you mean 
Irving?" "I do." "Written from the bottom of my 
heart." He never wrote a sweeter thing. 

i860. February 4. — The ratifications of the Commercial 
Treaty between France and this country were exchanged 
to-day. It is dated 23d January last and signed by 
(1) Lord Cowley, (2) Richard Cobden, (3) Baroche, (4) 
Rouher. 

i860. February 8. — Dined with the Lord Chancellor 
Campbell. Lavradio on the right and I on the left of 
Lady Stratheden. I escorted Lady William Russell, 
who chatted famously, notwithstanding a severe cold. 
She and the Duchess of St. Albans boasted of their 
jewelry ; the first, pearls worth a kingdom ; the second, 
diamonds sans nombre. A great many lay figures at 
table. Adjourned at eleven to Cambridge House. 

i860. February 10. — House of Commons at half-past 
four to hear Gladstone introduce his Budget. French 
Treaty laid on table by Lord John Russell. The Chan- 
cellor of the Exchequer spoke for four hours with un- 
flagging energy and spirit. This Budget is an epoch in 
the fiscal, social, and political history of England. It is 
a vast and complicated scheme to adapt the system of 
taxation, direct and indirect, to the exigencies of the new 
Free Trade Treaty of Commerce with France. Every- 
thing is made to give way to that treaty. It entails a 
disbursement of seventy million one hundred thousand 
pounds (say $350,500,000), to meet which existing re- 
sources are inadequate, and fresh ones must be devised 
to produce what would otherwise be the enormous deficit 
of .£9,400,000 ($47,000,000) ! No wonder that the in- 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 383 

dustry of such a man as Gladstone should penetrate into 
every nook and corner for rivulets of revenue, nor that 
his courage should, instead of redeeming his promise to 
extinguish the income tax made in 1853, insist upon ten- 
pence in the pound ! What is, at bottom, the object 
which is to reconcile the country to this vast increase of 
imposition? The wines and knick-knackeries of France? 
The wider area for the coal and iron market ? The 
march of the great principle of free trade ? Bah ! Mr. 
Cobden has lent his ability and experience to give that 
direction to the political crisis, but those who put Mr. 
Cobden forward were wholly incompetent to appreciate 
and prepare such a programme, and aimed only at some- 
thing which would give renewed life and closeness to the 
" entente cordiale." This the Treaty and the Budget, 
if carried out by Parliament, cannot fail to do. The 
industries of the two countries must rapidly become in- 
tertwined, if not so amalgamated as scarcely to admit of 
future separation and — hostility. I see no impediment 
to the legislative confirmation of this really wise plan 
— wise for the two high contracting parties, whatever 
may be its aspects dehors — except national pride. If 
adopted, England submits to the same sort of relation to 
France that Sicily in ancient days bore to Italy, — the 
storehouse or granary. The tendency and result of the 
whole arrangement are the unshackling and exaltation, 
not of British, but of French, energies. While the 
Treaty lasts, John Bull is the well-fed, petted, and power- 
ful Elephant of Louis Napoleon's National Menagerie ! 
i860. February 11. — Went in the evening to Cam- 
bridge House. Lord Palmerston wanted my notion of 
the Budget, for he had noticed my presence in the gal- 
lery. I abstained from every opinion except that of the 



384 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

personal triumph of the orator, and praised the " per- 
formance" as a remarkable one. Lord Brougham does 
the same. He went into the House for the first time 
since he was raised to the peerage. The Globe of this 
afternoon mentions the intended marriage of Queen Vic- 
toria's second daughter, the Princess Alice, to the Prince 
of Orange. She is scarcely seventeen ; he is twenty-one, 
and commonplace. 

i860. February 15. — Levee at St. James's. Rumoured 
through the throng that the Opposition have had a cau- 
cus, and resolved to attack the Budget and the Treaty. 
The countenances of Derby, Disraeli, Hardwicke, 
Malmesbury, and Stanley indicated the relief which re- 
sults from having decided on a course. I tried to see 
whether the Queen was " Gracious Heavens" or not, but 
the obscurity baffled me. 

Dined at Lambeth Palace. The Bishop of Winchester 
and St. David's present. Also Trench, Dean of Westmin- 
ster, the writer of those capital little volumes on " Words." 
His Grace the Archbishop uncommonly merry. 

Private theatricals at the Turkish Ambassador's, to 
which I am not well enough to accompany the ladies. 

i860. February 16. — Went at four to the Commons to 
hear Lord John Russell's answer to a question as to our 
wanting in reciprocity in not allowing English navigation 
the freedom of our coasting trade. He quoted with 
some effect the characteristic and quaint declaration of 
Bancroft in 1849, " You give some, we'll give some; you 
give much, we'll give much ; you give all, we'll give all." 
He became as " peert" as Sam Slick about our saying 
that allowing them to participate in the coasting trade 
would be unconstitutional, and I think such a pretence 
merited his sneer. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 385 

i860. February 18. — Two receptions, — Count D'Ap- 
ponyi's and Lord Palmerston's. The D'Aumales at the 
former; a brilliant, select, and limited circle. An im- 
mense jam at the latter. Much stir at the prospect of a 
movement by Mr. Disraeli on Monday next against the 
Treaty and the Budget. The same by Lord Derby in the 
House of Lords. Still, I cannot believe the Opposition are 
so unwise as to wish to turn out their adversaries just now. 
I conversed freely with Lord Clarence Paget, Mr. Rich, 
Mr. Delane, Monckton Milnes, etc. My opinion as to 
the proper course of the government was given figura- 
tively : to regard the Treaty and Budget as Siamese twins, 
— united we stand, divided we fall. In other words, to re- 
gard the latter as essential to the execution ofthe former ; to 
admit no change in details, but insist upon the combined 
scheme as a whole, even at the hazard of losing it. If it be 
not carried, Bonaparte will find apology for resentment. 
If it be tinkered at here, it must undergo the same danger- 
our process in the Legislative Chamber of France, where 
the protectionists may be strong enough to knock it up. 
The Tories don't relish the idea of another dissolution 
and election, and, rather than undergo that operation, 
would, if openly threatened with it, swallow the entire 
dose rather than corner Lord Palmerston. The pear is 
not yet ripe. 

i860. February 21. — Mr. Disraeli's last night speech 
against the Budget and Treaty was exceedingly feeble. 
He was answered by being literally crushed. The reply 
of Gladstone was prompt, animated, and eloquent. I 
listened attentively to both. Disraeli sunk in my esti- 
mation ; Gladstone took me by storm. They are not a 
fair match. Even in the very arts for which Disraeli is 
famous, — irony, sarcasm, sneer, — Gladstone surpassed 



386 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

him. The assailing motion failed, and thus the govern- 
ment achieved the first victory. This great battle cannot 
be retrieved by the Opposition. The argument continues, 
however, under another motion, by Mr. Ducane, of a 
broader and clearer character than Disraeli's. 

i860. February 22. — Queen's levee at St. James's. 
Unusually brilliant. Captain McClintock knighted. 

i860. February 25. — In the House of Commons the 
Ministry achieved another and more overwhelming vic- 
tory last night. Mr. Ducane's motion was defeated by a 
majority of 116. Members voting, 562. 

To-night went to the Countess Waldegrave's. She is 
the daughter of Braham, the songster whom I heard at 
Drury Lane Theatre in 18 13-14. She has had three 
husbands. Her first two were brothers, Earls de Wal- 
degrave, descended collaterals of Horace Walpole. Her 
present one is old Mr. Harcourt, M.P., aged seventy-five, 
whom she married in 1846. Their town residence is on 
Carlton Terrace, and as beautiful as any I have seen in 
London. It is enriched with a large collection of works 
of art, paintings, sculptures, and ornamental knick- 
knacks of every description. Everything bespeaks 
wealth, taste, luxury, and pretension. I had much con- 
versation with Mr. Gladstone (whose head is naturally a 
little turned), Lord Palmerston, and Lord Chelmsford. 
The last promised me a memorandum as to where I 
might get books for our Philadelphia Law Association. 

The newspapers of the afternoon announce an ex- 
tremely important fact, if true, — the reconciliation of 
Russia and Austria, with a treaty of alliance, offensive 
and defensive, guaranteeing especially the security of 
Venetia and Hungary. At Lady Waldegrave's, upon 
being questioned on the subject, Countess d'Apponyi 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 387 

replied, " Ce n'est pas vrai, c'est un canard." This 
denial may be mere ignorance or diplomacy. There is 
in the statement itself great verisimilitude. The two 
Courts have strong affinities. They are in constant 
intercourse; their youthful monarchs cannot prolong 
the breach which the ingratitude of Austria occasioned 
during the Crimean War without playing recklessly into 
the hands of Louis Napoleon, already looking to the 
extension of French limits by the annexation of Savoy 
and Nice. An additional rumour ascribes alarm to Prus- 
sia, who is disposed to join the coalition. Without ad- 
verting to these facts, the Press to-day, with solemnity, 
announces, in large capitals, "The New Revolution!" 

i860. February 27. — I had an interview with Lord 
John Russell to-day, in order to submit a petition to the 
Queen for the pardon of John W. Moody, convicted of 
manslaughter and sentenced to hard labour for life. All 
the numerous documents and a number of private letters 
were left for transfer to the Home Department. The 
appeal is well sustained, but the public feeling is just 
now so high against the cruelties committed by masters 
and mates on board of American merchantmen that I 
fear the government will be indisposed to clemency. 

The report of alliance between Russia and Austria 
seems to be unfounded. Another, however, equally 
pregnant with consequences, is entertained, to wit; that 
the Emperor has abandoned the project of Italian unity ; 
has prohibited the annexation of Tuscany to Piedmont, 
and proposed for that Duchy a new sovereign, the son 
of the Duke of Genoa, Victor Emmanuel's brother, a 
child of six years, with the Regency; has decided on 
restoring the Romagna, with a Lay Vicar, to the suze- 
rainty of the Pope, and has agreed to the annexation of 



388 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Modena and Padua to Piedmont. Nothing but the in- 
stability and waywardness of the Napoleonic policy can 
give plausibility to these statements. If they have any 
foundation, we must expect the spring to open with War 
and Revolution. 

i860. February 29. — Came late home from three enter- 
tainments: first, the Royal Geographical Society's soiree 
at the Earl de Grey and Ripon's ; second, at the Prussian 
Minister's; and third, at Lord Palmerston's. 

During the visit at Lord Ripon's I had several lively 
chats, one in particular, with Mr. Roebuck and Monck- 
ton Milnes, respecting Bonaparte's pretensions to Savoy. 
My impression was frankly stated. I had no doubt the 
Emperor intended to have, and will have, the province ; 
and they seemed incredulous and rather indignant. To 
wind them up somewhat higher, I argued the claim to 
be reasonable, such as France would naturally expect 
her Sovereign to make, after immense sacrifices of blood 
and treasure to Victor Emmanuel. Milnes said that 
Lord John Russell had committed himself this evening 
in the House of Commons on the subject, denying that 
the Emperor had determined on advancing the claim. 

Pretty much the same topics of conversation at Bern- 
storff' s and Palmerston's, where I met Milner Gibson, 
Seymour Fitzgerald, Moreira, etc. 

The wall of the stairway at the Royal Geographical 
meeting was signally adorned by an immense water- 
coloured map of Vancouver's Island and adjacent water, 
a broad red line running down the centre of Rosario Strait ! 
It is amazing how statesmanship and science are made 
to cater in this country to the appetite for foreign acqui- 
sition ! 

i860. March 2. — The Legislative Chamber in France 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 389 

was opened yesterday by the Emperor with a speech, 
of which this morning's Times contains a copy, and 
there, forsooth (didn't I tell you so!), the acquisition of 
Savoy is openly proclaimed as necessary to the safety 
of France! The British Ministry and Parliament are 
unanimously against it, but the Treaty and Budget have 
linked both inseparably to the entente cordiale. Who 
will run the risk of losing thirty-six millions of customers 
for coal and iron by quarrelling about the manner in 
which Louis Napoleon treats Victor Emmanuel or en- 
dangers the balance of power? Russia, Prussia, Aus- 
tria, and Switzerland may growl ; but England ? Not a 
word. 

Lord John Russell laid upon the table of the House 
of Commons last night his new Reform Bill. The very 
quintessence and perfection of fizzle! I met him by ap- 
pointment at the Foreign Office to-day, and read him 
General Cass's refusal to continue the argument about 
San Juan, in the face of his Lordship's repeating the 
obnoxious and insolent declaration that no disposition 
of the boundary will be assented to which does not give 
that island to England. This "piece of impertinence," 
as the Tribune calls the British claim, will have to be 
yielded ; and I think I perceive symptoms of less con- 
fidence already. 

i860. March 6. — At the French Embassy in the even- 
ing. Persigny pinioned me on a sofa as soon as I got in. 
He was in great excitement about the debate on Savoy, 
and abused everybody for attacking the Emperor. The 
truth is, these English moralizers have gone rather far in 
remonstrating as well diplomatically as in speaking in 
both houses on an annexation with which they have 
nothing to do. Persigny hints that the course taken 

34 



3QO DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

endangers the alliance, and seems to look for war some- 
where in the spring. Can anything be more preposter- 
ous than the disposition which prevails among British 
statesmen to lecture everybody on everything ? 

i860. March 7. — Dined with Mr. and Miss Sterling, 
— the annual entertainment given by this venerable 
brother and sister to the United States Minister. Lady 
Hume, a sister of Miss Sterling, and her son, who came 
from Edinburgh to attend the levee of the Queen for the 
officers of the Rifle Volunteers, Dr. Ashburnham, who 
knew and talked about Mr. Robert Dale Owen, Sir J. 
Ross, several ladies, and Mr. Richard Penruddock Long, 
were at table. The last named is M.P. for Chippenham, 
and married a daughter of Lady Hume. A family 
dinner ! 

In going to Mr. Sterling's, I noticed that the illumi- 
nated indicator in front of Apsley House, at Hyde 
Park Corner, had been destroyed by some violence. 
This has been often threatened, the structure being 
esteemed an eyesore by the Duke of Wellington ! 

i860. March 10. — Last night, in the House of Com- 
mons, Mr. Byng's motion for an address to the Queen 
approving the Treaty of Commerce with France was 
adopted by two hundred and eighty-two to fifty-six, a 
majority of two hundred and twenty-six ! 

I went yesterday to hear Faraday's lecture at the 
British Institution. It was on the subject of the electric 
light for light-houses. He is anxious to get the govern- 
ment to try the efficacy of what he termed " my spark." 
It was hardly possible to resist the belief that the 
discovery was admirable. There was an immensely 
thronged hall, sprinkled with ladies; Lords Wellington, 
Wensleydale, Stanhope, and Von Dorkum were present. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 39 1 

At two yesterday had an interview with Sir George 
Cornewall Lewis respecting the case of J. W. Moody. I 
pressed particularly upon him that the criminal was an 
American, the victim an American, and the vessel in 
which the act occurred was American. I also suggested 
that mercy might be made conditional, and as a foreigner 
had violated the local law, he could be forbidden ever 
to come to England again. Sir George consulted me 
about the law and practice in the United States as regards 
appeals in criminal cases. 

i860. March 15. — Went this evening to Mr. Henry 
Reeve's, of the Edinburgh Review. It is at least three 
miles off. Duke d'Aumale, Sir R. Murchison, Sir Henry 
Holland, Oliphant, Tricoupi, etc. 

i860. March 17. — At Lord Palmerston's to dinner. 
Went at eight and got there before any of the company 
had arrived, except Sir John Lawrence, hero of the 
Punjaub, to whom I introduced myself, and with whom 
I had a pleasant chat before either host or hostess 
appeared. There were at table Mr. and Mrs. Van 
de Weyer, myself, and Mrs. Dallas, Lord and Lady 
Shaftesbury, Lord and Lady Liveden, Marquess of 
Lansdowne, Sir George and Lady Grey, Sir J. Law- 
rence, Mr. and Mrs. Cowper (Board of Works), Mr. 
Oliphant, Mr. E. Ashley, and Miss Dallas. I sat between 
Lady Palmerston and Lady Liveden, and was pleasantly 
entertained. The dinner strikingly good. 

After dinner, at about eleven, a numerous reception 
up-stairs. We went in the course of half an hour to 
Lord Clarence Paget's, Assistant Secretary of the Ad- 
miralty. 

Great curiosity mingled with some anxiety was 
created by the emphatic announcement of Lord John 



392 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Russell in the House of Commons last night, to the 
effect that he had in the course of the evening received 
from Paris a despatch from Thouvenel of immense mo- 
ment, which he had not yet been able to lay before the 
Cabinet, and of which he could say no more than that 
it related to Savoy. In all probability, the Emperor 
has ventilated his irritation at the manner in which he 
and his policy are discussed in Parliament. Lord John 
was to have kept an appointment with me at the Foreign 
Office to-day, but he postponed it by note, alleging ill- 
ness. When Lord Palmerston, this evening, was asked 
what was the nature of Lord John's complaint, he said 
he supposed it was a toothache, or perhaps Thouvenel ! 

Met Mr. Frank Crossley here. He is an M.P. and 
an extensive carpet-manufacturer of Halifax, Yorkshire. 
We conversed for some time. He said, among other 
things, that more carpeting of the Brussels kind was 
used in the United States than in Great Britain and 
Europe put together; ay, twice as much. I asked him 
how he accounted for the fact. He replied that in 
America carpets were renewed every three or four years ; 
that we had a dislike to dingy carpets ; that such a worn 
carpet as this of Lord Palmerston's under our feet 
would not be tolerated in any gentleman's house in the 
United States ; that on the Continent carpets were com- 
paratively little in use. He admitted that we manufac- 
tured the Brussels as well as they did, but we were not 
yet as skilful with another kind. 

i860. March 18. — A bright, warm day. Walked to 
the Zoological Gardens. Four interesting additions : 
the spider monkey, the gigantic salamander, the prairie 
dogs, and the gorgeous peacocks. Met Leslie's widow 
and son there, and led them to these objects of special 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 393 

attraction. The crocuses and snowdrops are in full 
bloom already ! They skirt the sides of the main walk 
like glowing ribbons. 

Dined with Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, who appears to 
have recovered health and strength. He was unusually 
talkative and eloquent. Seventeen gentlemen at table ; 
and seat vacant, or a Banquo. I occupied the chair on 
the right of Sir Edward, on his left the Duke of Wel- 
lington, on my right Lord Stanley, opposite to him the 
Marquis of Salisbury, then Lord Hanover, Mr. White- 
side, etc. 

Telegrams announce that Victor Emmanuel has in 
full form accepted the annexations of Parma, Modena, 
and Romagna, and will to-morrow accept that of Tuscany. 
Things are now moving rapidly. The Pope excommu- 
nicates the King of Sardinia with ancient solemnity at 
the Vatican in a kw days. Savoy and Nice are ceded 
to France ; and Switzerland, through her Minister at 
Paris, Dr. Kern, has protested. 

i860. March 20. — Dined with Von Dorkum, the 
Danish Minister. His successor De Bille, son of the 
Minister so long in the United States, was at table. A 
worse dinner was never served, I'll warrant it, in the 
Admiral's longest voyage in his cabin. Captain Wash- 
ington, Samson, of the Times, and a Baron Humboldt, 
were the only others that I remember. 

i860. March 22. — Went last night to a reception of 
the Duke of Somserset at the Admiralty. Her Grace 
and Lady DufFerin are sisters of Mrs. Norton ; three of 
the most striking and attractive women now in London. 
I spoke to the Duke about my countrywoman, Mrs. 
Costen, and her system of night signals for men-of-war. 
He seemed actually frightened, sidling away from me as 

34* 



394 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

if he expected a blow : I suspect this to be a shy habit, 
for I noticed it when he was spoken to by others. 

I had previously gone to Sir Charles Lyell's; Dr. 
Milman, Earl Stanhope, Professor Wheatstone, Mr. 
Thackeray, Gibbs, tutor of Prince of Wales, and a great 
deal of natural science were there. 

i860. March 24. — Drawing-room at St. James's Pal- 
ace. The assemblage brilliant, but not numerous. 

Public men are greatly exercised. Napoleon's firm 
annexation of Savoy and Nice, in perfect contempt of 
the rest of Europe, and especially of the British Parlia- 
ment, occasions much moody reflection and anxiety. 
Lord John Russell failed to tell the House of Commons 
the nature of the despatch from Thouvenel he had 
hastily mentioned on Friday. Everybody concludes 
that it was angry and insolent; and that Lord Palmer- 
ston may endanger his administration by again truckling 
to Imperial language. The political Cassandras in 
breeches are everywhere predicting fresh European 
complications and wars. The Times of to-day contains 
the most offensive attack yet made upon the Emperor, 
characterizing his policy as " les fourberies de Scapin," 
or the " mean tricks of Figaro." Its epithets applied to 
Thouvenel are abominable. Bonaparte is rumoured to 
have opened negotiations for an addition of territory on 
the northeast of France. 

i860. March 27. — Went last evening to the House of 
Commons. Mr. Horsman, on Kinglake's motion about 
Savoy, was extremely bitter against the Ministerial 
"truckling" to Bonaparte. Sir Robert Peel, with a large 
roll of paper in his hands (probably the anti-annexation- 
ists of Nice), was obviously prepared to follow in the 
same vein. Lord John Russell, however, rose and, after 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 395 

vindicating the course of the administration, closed with 
a most remarkable statement which drew loud cheers 
from the Opposition. It was to the effect that the course 
of the Emperor had inspired universal distrust; that 
England could not be isolated ; that the interests and 
safety and peace of Europe were dear to her; and that, 
as France was uncertain and changeable in her course, 
England must look out for new friends and alliances on 
the Continent. The Times of this morning construes 
this speech as the end of the alliance and the defeat of 
the Treaty, as far as it depends on the changes in the 
Budget. 

i860. March 28. — Queen's levee at St. James's Palace 
unusually crowded and protracted. Her Majesty wore 
a magnificent necklace of large and beautiful pearls of 
several strands, which reminded me of the one I re- 
marked of the same nature twenty odd years ago on 
the Russian Empress. I had interesting conversations 
with Lord Palmerston, Sydney Herbert, Lord Elgin, 
Persigny, Kielmansegg, etc. Lord John Russell's speech 
of Monday has set the French Embassy in a flame, and 
enchanted all the representatives of the small German 
courts. 

Dined with the Queen to-day. My seniors, Kielman- 
segg and Tricoupi, were at table. The Prince Consort 
sat on her Majesty's left; young Prince Alfred, the mid- 
shipman, opposite the Queen, having the Duchess of 
Kent, his grandmother, on his right. I took in and 
placed on my right, and on the left of Prince Alfred, the 
Duchess of St. Albans, whose husband, Lord Falkland, 
took in Mrs. Dallas. There were present, also, Madame 
Tricoupi, Lady Diana Beauclerc, Lord Elgin, Sir Charles 
Lycll, Colonel Biddulph, and other functionaries, male 



396 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

and female, of the household. The band of music was 
admirable, the fresh and natural floral ornamentations 
beautiful, and the dinner perfect. When returned into 
the Picture-Gallery, the Queen and Prince Consort made 
themselves unusually gracious and pleasant. 

Went from Buckingham Palace to Lord Palm^rston's, 
where her Ladyship had one of her extemporaneous 
and crowded receptions. 

i860. April 4. — Parliament adjourned last night for 
the Easter holidays, — that is, until Monday, the 16th 
in st. 

I was yesterday called upon by Professor , of 

Boston. He seemed to be under the impression that 
his fame was universal, and expressed astonishment and 
indignation that he was not at once recognized as a 
man of great science and position. It was difficult to 
convince him that I did not know him, and could not 
rationally acquiesce in his pretension to represent the 
Academy of Arts and Sciences in Boston. " Have you 
a letter or line of introduction ?" " No." " Have you 
anything to show your authorization by the Acad- 
emy?" "No." "Any document with its seal?" 
" No." " Any note or memorandum, written or print- 
ed?" "No, I have nothing. There is my visiting- 
card, and I claim by that to be treated as a gentle- 
man of science." " Not to know you, Professor, is 
my misfortune, which you should not upbraid as a 
fault. I don't doubt your word ; but in approaching 
the British Government to obtain for you a very valu- 
able set of the Geological Survey maps, I am not at 
liberty to act upon your word only. Do you know 
none of the men of science here ?" " Yes : Sir Rod- 
erick Murchison, Sir Charles Lyell." " Quite enough. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 397 

Bring me a line from either, and I will address Lord 
John Russell for you." He left me, somewhat ap- 
peased, but by no means convinced that I was prop- 
erly deferential to his attainments and reputation. It is 
very rare to meet science without an accompaniment of 
personal modesty; sometimes it so happens. To-day I 
received a short, neat, and satisfactory assurance from 
Sir Charles Lyell, and have therefore felt warranted in 
asking for the charts. 

i860. April 7. — Called on Cropsey, our American 
artist. He has finished his great picture of " Autumn 
on the Hudson River." It is very large and admirable. 
The sweep of verdure in the centre down to the river 
and grouped with sheep, the water, the dreamy atmos- 
phere, the village, and the sun penetrating through cloud, 
are all very beautiful and fine. Perhaps, here and there, 
the colouring of the trees, though certainly faithful to 
nature, is too strong and glittering for canvas. 

i860. April 9. — Went to Kellog's studio. Enjoyed 
a long gaze at his Raphael. His picture of the angel 
transporting an infant, just dead, to Heaven is graceful 
and agreeable. I don't think he has succeeded in taking 
the portrait of Mr. Bright, but I could not bear to tell 
him so. He has failed to catch the expression. I am 
afraid, from the appearances of discomfort and a shade 
of despondency, that he is not employed. As the 
Queen had listened to my request, on behalf of the 
American Association, to permit him to copy one of her 
best portraits, he expressed his thanks, and I advised 
him to consult Sir Charles Eastlake as to the one most 
eligible. 

A capital article is the first in this month's Edinburgh 
Review, full of clear reasoning and close facts. It is on 



398 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

the " Commercial Relations of England and France." I 
was particularly struck with the clearness of the position 
on which it founds its reasoning in favour of the Free 
Trade, which is regarded as consequent upon the Treaty 
and the Budget, It is as follows : " The great problem 
of the government of modern society is, on the one 
hand, to raise the value of human labour by creating a 
more constant and abundant demand for its products, 
and, on the other hand, to lower the price of the natural 
or artificial necessaries of life by creating a more constant 
and abundant supply of them. This is the problem 
which freedom of trade, and the free exchange of com- 
modities according to the wants of man, undertakes to 
solve; this is the object to which the protective system, 
as it has existed in France, is directly opposed, because, 
on the one hand, it depresses the value of labour by lim- 
iting the demand for its produce to the home market, 
and, on the other hand, it confines to the home market, 
whose prices are raised by artificial restrictions, the 
supply of the necessaries of life. There cannot be too 
much of anything in the world, because, from the moment 
its price brings it within the reach of those classes which 
were previously deprived of it, their power of consump- 
tion and their desire of procuring it are absolutely illim- 
itable. To produce an artificial scarcity in order to keep 
up an artificial price is, on the contrary, to augment by 
bad legislation those privations which are still the lot of 
the majority of mankind." 

1 860. April 1 2. — Was visited to-day very numerously ; 
among others by an exceedingly interesting gentleman, 
Mr. Auguste de la Rive, who is here on behalf of Switz- 
erland, to impress this government properly with the 
dangers, incident to the Emperor's annexation of Savoy 



AT THE COURT OF ST JAMES. 399 

and Nice, to Europe, and especially to his own country. 
He knew Mr. Gallatin well, knew all his family in Geneva, 
the aristocratic and the democratic branches. He assures 
me that but one sentiment prevails in Switzerland, — that 
their peril alarms everybody. M. Persigny tells him 
that Napoleon will concede all that is necessary to their 
perfect security, but mistrust is universal. He wished 
the great Republic of the West was sufficiently near to 
the little European one to help her, if necessary. 

1 860. April 1 6. — Parliament resumed its session to-day. 

i860. April 17. — The fight between Tom Sayers and 
Heenan came off near Aldershot this morning. Both 
parties dreadfully beaten and the battle undecided, after 
lasting one hour and twenty minutes, with forty rounds. 
Heenan would have killed Sayers by pressing him under 
his arm and against the ropes, had not the crowd cut the 
ring. 

i860. April 18. — First of our " at homes" or receptions 
for the present season. Delightfully attended and greatly 
praised for their informal and sociable character. 

Our opposite neighbours, the Van de Weyers, came 
from their country residence, New Lodge, near Windsor, 
to-day. They have refitted their town house in honour 
of their eldest daughter, who goes into company this 
winter. 

Court goes into mourning to-morrow for two weeks, 
the Queen's step-brother-in-law having died. 

i860. April 24. — The Queen's levee, appointed origi- 
nally for the 21st inst, was postponed and held to-day. 
I presented several gentlemen in the general circle. Some 

solicitude and responsibility as to Mr. W , owing to 

his taking so prominent a part in the recent prize-fight; 
but his deportment is unexceptionable, and I was not 



400 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

warranted in making any distinction among my coun- 
trymen. The matter passed off without any difficulty, 
whether because it is understood that I am prepared, 
after a few years of experience, not to be again trifled 

with by Major-General Sir E. C, or because Mr. W 

attracted no special notice, I cannot pretend to assert. 

i860. April 26. — Bulwer Lytton made a brilliant and 
victorious speech against Lord John Russell's Reform 
Bill in the Commons to-night. It was vociferously and 
protractedly cheered. The bill would be in danger but 
for the dread of a dissolution. 

1 86c. May 2. — Our reception, or "at home," thronged 
and distinguished. In the evening went in succession 
to the Bishop of London's, Lord Derby's, and Lady 
Waldegrave's. Neither the Bishop nor Mrs. Tate was at 
home to receive their company, having been, as late as 
eleven o'clock last night, commanded to dine to-day at 
Buckingham Palace. Their rooms were nevertheless 
closely crowded. The press at Lord Derby's was, as 
usual, perfectly intolerable. We were jammed on the 
stairway, incapable of going up or down, for full a half 
hour. We reached Lady Waldegrave's after twelve, 
when her guests had thinned comfortably. What a gem 
of elegant art is her Ladyship's whole house! 

i860. May 5. — The Brazilian Minister called to-day. 
He has just returned from Paris, and finds that, during 
his absence, Lord John Russell has written to Brazil on 
the expediency of assembling in Europe a general Inter- 
national Congress to devise modes of effectually putting 
an end to the slave-trade. He proposes to invite the 
United States and Brazil to send their representatives to 
this Congress ; and the government at Rio have deter- 
mined in advance to conform their action to that of the 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAM/: S. 40I 

government at Washington. Moreria wished me to say 
whether any invitation had been addressed to the Presi- 
dent, and whether I thought it likely our government 
would accede? I told him frankly I had heard nothing 
upon the subject, and that I deemed it quite impossible 
that the present American government would listen to the 
overture. Let me, said Moreria, put this question to 
you : suppose Brazil were to accept Lord John's invita- 
tion, how would you characterize and regard her conduct? 
I answered instantly, as unfriendly and un-American. 
Am I at liberty to write home to that effect? Certainly, 
as an expression of my individual opinion: the United 
States can never consent, and least of all upon this topic, 
to merge into a European conference; we are resolutely 
set upon keeping the two continents separate in politics. 

By the Persia we have news from the United States 
to the 25th ultimo. General Cushing had been elected 
permanent president of the convention at Charleston. 

i860. May 9. — Garibaldi, with an expeditionary corps 
of three thousand men, left Genoa for Sicily on the night 
of the 5th and 6th insts. The insurrection in the interior 
of that island would seem to be making headway. 

A concert at Buckingham Palace. Capital "at home" 
to-day. 

i860. May 11. — Dined at Mr. Young's. Lord Over- 
stone and his shadow; both rough and excited about the 
Reform Bill, and both ashamed of themselves. 

i860. May 14. — Music at Countess de Waldegrave's ; 
Graziani admirable. Dancing at Austrian Legation. 
Small hop at Mr. Gladstone's. 

i860. May 16. — Queen's ball at Buckingham Palace. 
We had in charge several ladies and gentlemen. The 
Duke of Newcastle promises to allow Dr. Rawlins to 

35 



402 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

be in the train of the Prince of Wales on board the 
ninety-one-gun ship across the Atlantic. 

Small panic on the Parisian Bourse telegraphed to- 
night. The progress of Garibaldi is certain. They are 
packing up their jewels at Naples for flight and a revo- 
lution. 

i860. May 18. — Her Majesty's nominal birthday; 
real one on 24th inst. Grand display at the drawing- 
room. Prince Frederick of Holland in the royal group. 
Dinner for fifty or sixty in Downing Street. Sir W. 
Gore Ouseley there, and apparently in good health and 
spirits. Mr. Wyke there, also. The streets were hand- 
somely illuminated at night. 

Closed a most fatiguing day by visiting Lord Palmer- 
ston at twelve at night. 

Garibaldi is represented to have fifteen thousand men, 
and to be in possession of Messina. 

i860. May 19. — The newly decorated residence of the 
Belgian Minister was open this morning for reception, 
"to meet H. R. H. the Duchess of Cambridge and H. 
R. H. the Princess Mary." 

i860. May 23. — Some piano-playing at Mrs. Darby 
Griffith's, whence we adjourned to Mr. Gladstone's, 
whom I was glad to find in excellent spirits, notwith- 
standing the overwhelming majority of eighty-nine with 
which his measure for repealing the tax on paper was 
condemned in the House of Lords on Monday, the 
2 1st inst. 

i860. May 24. — A splendid ball at Mr. Bates's, in 
Arlington Street, given by his daughter, Mrs. Van de 
Weyer. Her own house is ample for all reasonable pur- 
poses, and for unreasonable purposes, such as were aimed 
at to-night, no house in London is large enough. The 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 403 

Royalties were there instead of at Regent Street, in the 
Belgian Legation, as was designed on the 19th inst. 

i860. May 30 — Our weekly " at home." A throng 
of agreeable people. 

i860. May 31. — Garibaldi entered Palermo on 27th 
inst. The Neapolitan soldiers retreated to the Citadel, 
and have been bombarding their own city ! 

Commodore Stockton dined with us to-day, also Sir 
John Bowring, Mr. Frank Corbin, Mr. Beech Lawrence 
and his daughter, Sir Henry Holland, Mr. Lyman, Mr. 
Howland, etc. In the evening we had a crowded party. 

i860. June 2. — Dined at Miss Gamble's, Chevalier 
Wykoff's grossly calumniated friend. She has fortune, 
is living nearly opposite to us in an exceedingly well- 
arranged and handsome house, and her dinner was irre- 
proachable. Over the mantel-piece of the dining-room 
she had an interesting cast, given to her by the poet 
Rogers, of Mercury bearing Pandora in his arms to the 
earth. 

An armistice between Garibaldi and the Neapolitans: 
the latter to quit Sicily with their twenty-five thousand 
men in a week. 

Definite and full accounts to-day from the Republican 
Convention at Chicago. They have nominated Abraham 
Lincoln, of Illinois, for President, and Hannibal Hamlin, 
of Maine, for Vice-President : both of one geographical 
section, the free North. Lincoln is as absolutely self- 
made as our democracy could desire. He began life as 
a day-labourer, and took to making fence-rails. 

i860. June 20. — Great gap in my memoranda. On 
Friday last, the 15th inst, Bonaparte went to Baden to 
meet the Regent of Prussia. This opens another of his 
great movements. He met there a covey of Kings ; 



404 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

stayed until Sunday night; travelled during the night 
back to Paris, and met his Ministers on Monday morn- 
ing. About's pamphlet, " La Prusse en i860," is out. 

On Sunday morning, June 17th, the Great Eastern 
left Southampton for New York. 

We had a large dinner, by Lady Chantrey, at the " Star 
and Garter," on the 19th inst. 

i860. June 21. — We had our "at home" yesterday; 
crowded. Went in the evening to Apsley House. The 
Queen and Prince Consort, with several continental Roy- 
alties, were there. A concert. 

My countrymen appear taking London by storm. 

Dined to-day at Sir Thomas Cochrane's, and adjourned 
to Lady Palmerston's. 

My journal threatens to be a mere hasty register of 
parties. 

i860. June 23. — Queen's State Ball last night at Buck- 
ingham Palace. As we followed into the supper-room, 
a tremendous crash, sounding like the fall of a chan- 
delier, alarmed us all. It proved to be one of the golden 
ornaments, a superb vase, placed against the wall behind 
the fountain of cologne water. Sir John Crampton and 
his bride (late Miss Balfe, cantatrice) passed the Queen. 
Four of the embassy from Morocco were present, 
wrapped almost to concealment in light bernouses and 
hoods; one of them huge in size, and wearing a turban 
of great dimensions and weight. 

i860. June 27. — A most luxurious visit to the Marquis 
of Westminster's in the evening, his objects of art yield- 
ing boundless gratification. His Rubens are immense 
and delightful ; his Blue Boy, of Gainsborough, has the 
reputation of being that artist's most perfect production; 
his Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse in the act of in- 






AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 405 

spiration, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, is splendid; and then 
his Raphaels, Guidos, etc., etc. ! There is a prodigious 
money value in this superb collection. 

i860. June 28. — A ball at Holderness House, the 
Marchioness of Londonderry's. Her Ladyship, a stout 
dame magnificently dressed, and acting a Royal High- 
ness, has much repute as a woman of intellect and 
practical business talent. Her graceless son, Vane 
Tempest, managed some weeks ago to decoy Lady S. C, 
the Duke of Newcastle's daughter, to disregard her 
father's injunctions and to run off with him and be mar- 
ried. Poor girl, what a life she has chosen ! In one of 
the salons I noticed several rich presents made by the 
Czar Nicholas to Lord Londonderry and her Ladyship 
in the spring of 1837, the very season in which we 
reached St. Petersburg and occupied the Bobrinsky 
House, which they had just vacated. These ornaments, 
malachite vases, and rich specimens of porcelain beauti- 
fully painted, were each on pedestals inscribed with a 
memorandum of the giver's name and the date. There 
were fine paintings on the walls, one, a Holy Family 
and St. John, specially provided with extra lights, as if 
esteemed a gem; but though, as a painting, it was ex- 
quisite, there was something fierce and forbidding in the 
looks of both mother and son which I did not relish. 
The ballroom was vast, vaulted, and enriched with sculp- 
tures and paintings. As at the Marquis of Westminster's, 
enormous wealth proclaimed itself in every direction. 

i860. July 4. — During the week we have had a grand 
review by the Queen of twenty-four thousand Rifle Vol- 
unteers in Hyde Park, and a target-firing on Wimbledon 
Common, at which her Majesty set the example of 
hitting the bull's-eye. 

35* 



406 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

Our celebration was held at the London Tavern. 
There were one hundred present. I responded to The 
Day we celebrate. Dr. Mackay and Mr. Layard spoke. 
The dinner was unusually good, but the rest quite the 
reverse. I gave the Association for its charity fund five 
pounds. 

Went at twelve to Lansdowne House. A disgusting 
squeeze ! every room jammed, and the Marquis exceed- 
ing difficult to find or reach. Perhaps one thousand 
visitors present. 

i860. July 5. — Dined with Mr. Russell Sturgis and a 
company of eighteen, among whom the Wildes of Man- 
chester, Judge Warren, etc., etc. 

i860. July 6. — At Lord Wensleydale's to dinner. 
Justice Earl present, Mr. and Mrs. Lowe, etc. 

Last night I was in the House of Commons and heard 
Lord Palmerston make a very statesmanlike and concili- 
atory speech respecting the violation of the privileges of 
the House by the Lords in rejecting the bill abolishing 
the paper duty. It may probably drive Gladstone and 
Gibson out of the Cabinet. The Premier was loudly 
and repeatedly cheered by the Opposition, while his 
Liberal supporters maintained a sullen silence. His 
resolutions, throwing oil on the troubled waters, will be 
carried overwhelmingly. 

i860. July 7.— Dined with Mr. Bates; Mr. Goff, of 

Canada, Thomas Baring, Bancroft Davis, Mr. Baring 

and his lovely wife, daughter of Minturn, of New York, 
and several more present. 

i860. July 10. — Sixty-eighth return! and good health ! 
Gratitude ! gratitude ! 

On this day last week I received letters from General 
Cass, Senators Gwinn and Slidell, introducing Mr. C. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 407 

Calvo. This gentleman is empowered by the Para- 
guayan government to negotiate for the arrangement of 
the controversy respecting Mr. Caustall and the former 
Consul, Mr. Henderson. Lord John Russell and Lord 
Wodehouse are short and peremptory with him, and, as 
he feels greatly embarrassed what to do, he requests my 
advice. His government is clearly right in the position 
they have taken, and are ably proved to be so by a pro- 
fessional opinion of Dr. Phillimore. I have suggested 
to him the expediency of abstaining from any irritating 
discussion, of returning to Paris, and of allowing the 
Ministry time to consult the crown lawyers on the points 
so irresistibly enforced by Phillimore; in the mean while 
some call may be made upon the subject in the House 
of Commons ; and when Lord John has had an oppor- 
tunity of showing that the errors of the British course 
of action originated with his predecessor, he will be pre- 
pared to pursue a different course. Until that, or some- 
thing of the kind occurs, he will not abandon the absurd 
attitude taken by Lord Malmesbury. 

i860. July 16. — The International Statistical Congress 
opened its fourth session to-day in this city. I had de- 
clined being a member, when invited a month ago by 
the President of the Board of Trade, Mr. Milner Gibson. 
On Saturday last the Committee of Organization sent 
special cards to the members of the Corps diplomatique, 
and, in order to manifest my respect for the Prince Con- 
sort, I went to hear his opening address. Lord Brougham 
took the opportunity, after the delivery of the ad- 
dress, which was really very good, abruptly to call out 
to me by name, and hoped I would observe that there 
was " a negro in the assemblage !" I perceived instantly 
the grossness of the act, and, seeing the black in the 



408 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

very centre of the philosophers, hadn't a doubt that it 
was a premeditated contrivance to provoke me into some 
unseemly altercation with the coloured personage. I 
balked that by remaining silent and composed. The 
gentleman of colour, however, rose, and requested per- 
mission of the Prince Consort, as chairman, to thank 
Lord Brougham for his notice, with an emphatic con- 
clusion, " I am a man." Query: Is not the government 
answerable for this insult ? Or must it be regarded as 
purely the personal indecency of Lord Brougham ? Curia 
advisare vult. 

i860. July 18. — Judge Longstreet, the United States 
Delegate to the International Congress, sent yesterday his 
written withdrawal, in consequence of Lord Brougham's 
conduct. 

There is no telling to what this outrage may lead. 
Brougham is already feeling the weight of a unanimous 
public opinion. He attempted to-day to make an ex- 
planation or apology; said he meant no disrespect to me 
or my government, and then, with a fatuity scarcely 
comprehensible, went on to make the matter worse. Is 
he, on this question of slavery, deranged ? 

Dr. J , the delegate sent by the Statistical Associa- 
tion of Massachusetts, called upon me. He said he came 
from Lord Brougham, and was by him authorized to 
remove any impression that I might have imbibed that 
he intended to wound my feelings. I interrupted Dr. 

J , and said that I could receive nothing from Lord 

Brougham at second-hand; if he wished to do what was 
right and restore the state of things his folly had dis- 
turbed, he must make an ample and distinct apology for 
the insult upon the United States; he must do this in 
the very body where he had made the attack, and what 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 409 

he said should be sanctioned and approved by that body ; 
if this was satisfactorily done, the personal indignity to 
myself would melt into nothing before the infirmities of 
his great age. Alas ! that an American citizen should 

have witnessed, as Dr. J did, this outrage upon his 

country, and yet be so bent upon his wretched statistical 
essay or report as to prefer reading this last to resent- 
ing the former. Dr. J distinguishes : says Lord 

Brougham's act don't touch him, because he is from a 
free State! " Out upon such half-faced fellowship"!" 

i860. July 20. — Lord Brougham called at ten a.m. I 
had just time to tell my servant to refuse me. He is so 
old, and has been so remarkable a man in his day and 
generation, that I have to remind myself of his offence, 
and of his aggravating it by the form and manner of his 
pretended explanation, or I could scarcely screw my 
mind up to the point of turning him from the door. He 
came a second time, between twelve and one. I was then 
at the Kensington Museum, and my secretary, receiving 
him with the utmost deference, was, nevertheless, silent. 
He said once or twice, " You know who I am ? Lord 
Brougham, Lord Brougham !" He went to the front 
door, and then returned in the front office, and remarked, 
" You know you don't treat your negroes as well as they 
are treated in the Brazils !" 

The treat I enjoyed at the Kensington Museum was 
one of the richest I have had in England. The Turners, 
the Hogarths, the Leslies, etc., are all delightful. 

What an admirable reply to Lord Grey is that Fourth 
of July speech of Everett's. He has literally over- 
whelmed Grey in the spirit of truth and moderation. 

Received a note from Lord Shaftesbury, hoping that 
I won't report to my government the "very foolish and 



410 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

very unwarrantable conduct of Lord Brougham"! This 
advice is about as silly as Lord Harry's act, and perhaps 
much less excusable. 

i860. July 21. — The Peers don't approve their trouble- 
some " chartered libertine" Brougham. Shaftesbury 
writes. Lansdowne comes to make impressive assur- 
ances. And Overstone denounces ore rotundo. 

i860. July 24. — Judge Longstreet has issued a letter 
addressed to the International Statistical Congress about 
their gross conduct in applauding Lord Brougham. It 
is printed in the Morning Chronicle, and evinces consid- 
erable ability and tact. I shall not be surprised if, on 
this sensitive topic, my countrymen, who never can be 
rational about it, should consider me as having too tran- 
quilly submitted to the remark of Brougham. One of 
them here wishes I had "jumped to my feet and knocked 
the old blackguard down !" This is not " ma maniere 
d'agir." First, it would have been great folly to imply, 
by word or act, that the question of slavery in the United 
States could legitimately be discussed before the Ameri- 
can Minister at a European Congress of any sort. 
Second, the Congress was unanimously and vociferously 
hostile; the words of Brougham were cheered loudly; 
it was palpable that the act was the result of a contri- 
vance between Brougham and his associate to get up an 
altercation between the latter and myself, which was de- 
feated by my treating the movement with silence. Third, 
quitting the room was impossible, because my doing so 
was physically impeded, and would instantly have been 
followed by loud and prolonged indignities. Fourth, to 
attempt, at a moment of sudden astonishment and in- 
dignation, to vindicate the United States from the slur 
thrown out, would have been extremely imprudent and 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 4 I I 

hazardous; no man is authorized to commit his country 
in a manner so unprepared. Fifth, my individual opin- 
ion as to the races being unequal in intellect is strong, 
but the point has never been studied, and could not be 
handled in the slightest manner without exhibiting weak- 
ness. Sixth, a foreign Minister cannot be justified or 
excused in taking the attitude of a public declaimer in a 
Congress where he was only an invited guest, and where 
such a topic was not only not to be anticipated, but 
wholly out of order. Indeed, such are my convictions 
that I have thanked Heaven frequently and profoundly 
that I had presence of mind enough to take the course 
I did. Brougham has attempted in the very Congress 
itself, and only two days after his extravagance, a feeble 
and unsatisfactory apology ; he has sought me that he 
might apologize in person, and has been turned from the 
door. He is now perpetually inculcating that what he 
did was not intended to be disrespectful to me or the 
United States, and that it should be regarded as insig- 
nificant. 

i860. August 1. — A very remarkable letter addressed 
by Louis Napoleon to " mon cher Persigny," dated the 
25th ult, at St. Cloud, has made its appearance. Its ob- 
vious design is to reassure the government and people 
of this country as to 'his designs, and remove the strong 
mistrust now felt. It is written with seeming familiarity, 
but with consummate art. 

LETTER FROM THE FRENCH EMPEROR TO M. PERSIGNY. 

The following important letter from the Emperor 
Napoleon to the French Ambassador was referred to, 
but not read, by Lord John Russell on Tuesday night 
in the House of Commons : 



412 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

St. Cloud, July 25, i860. 

My dear Persigny, — Affairs appear to me to be so complicated, 
thanks to the mistrust excited everywhere since the war in Italy, that I 
write to you in the hope that a conversation, in perfect frankness, with 
Lord Palmerston will remedy the existing evil. Lord Palmer.-ton knows 
me, and when I affirm a thing he will believe me. Well, you can tell 
him from me, in the most explicit manner, that since the peace of Villa- 
franca I have had but one thought, one object, — to inaugurate a new era 
of peace, and to live on the best terms with all my neighbours, and 
especially with England. I had renounced Savoy and Nice ; the extra- 
ordinary additions to Piedmont alone caused me to resume the desire to 
see reunited to France provinces essentially French. But it will be ob- 
jected, "You wish for peace, and you increase immoderately the military 
forces of France." I deny the fact in every sense. My army and my 
fleet have in them nothing of a threatening character. My steam navy 
is even far from being adequate to our requirements, and the number of 
steamers does not nearly equal that of sailing-ships deemed necessary in 
the time of King Louis Philippe. I have four hundred thousand men un- 
derarms ; but deduct from this amount sixty thousand in Algeria, six thou- 
sand in Rome, eight thousand in China, twenty thousand gendarmes, the 
sick, and the new conscripts, and you will see — what is the truth — that 
my regiments are of smaller effective strength than during the preceding 
reign. The only addition to the army list has been made by the creation 
of the Imperial Guard. Moreover, while wishing for peace, I desire also 
to organize the forces of the country on the best possible footing ; for, 
if foreigners have only seen the bright side of the last war, I myself, 
close at hand, have witnessed the defects, and I wish to remedy them. 
Having said thus much, I have since Villafranca neither done nor even 
thought anything which could alarm any one. When Lavalette started 
for Constantinople, the instructions which I gave him were confined to 
this, " Use every effort to maintain the status quo ; the interest of France 
is that Turkey should live as long as possible." 

Now, then, occur the massacres in Syria, and it is asserted that I am 
very glad to find a new occasion of making a little war, or of playing a 
new part. Really, people give me credit for very little common sense. 
If I instantly proposed an expedition, it was because my feelings were 
those of the people which have put me at their head, and the intelligence 
from Syria transported me with indignation. My first thought, neverthe- 
less, was to come to an understanding with England. What other interest 
than that of humanity could induce me to send troops into that country ? 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 413 

Could it be that the possession of it would increase my strength? Can I 
conceal from myself that Algeria, notwithstanding its future advantages, 
is a source of weakness to France, which for thirty years has devoted to it 
the purest of its blood and its gold? I said it in 1852 at Bordeaux, and 
my opinion is still the same, — I have great conquests to make, but only in 
France. Her interior organization, her moral development, the increase 
of her resources, have still immense progress to make. There a field ex- 
ists vast enough for my ambition and sufficient to satisfy it. 

It was difficult for me to come to an understanding with England on 
the subject of Central Italy, because I was bound by the peace of Villa- 
franca. As to Southern Italy I am free from engagements, and I ask no 
better than a concert with England on this point, as on others ; but, in 
Heaven's name, let the eminent men who are placed at the head of the 
English government lay aside petty jealousies and unjust mistrusts. 

Let us understand one another in good faith, like honest men, as we 
are, and not like thieves, who desire to cheat each other. 

To sum up, this is my innermost thought : I desire that Italy should 
obtain peace, no matter how, but without foreign intervention, and that 
my troops should be able to quit Rome without compromising the security 
of the Pope. I could very much wish not to be obliged to undertake the 
Syrian expedition and, in any case, not to undertake it alone, first, because 
it will be a great expense, and, second, because I fear that the intervention 
may involve the Eastern question ; but, on the other hand, I do not see how 
to resist public opinion in my country, which will never understand that 
we can leave unpunished not only the massacre of Christians, but the 
burning of our Consulates, the insult to our flag, and the pillage of the 
monasteries which were under our protection. 

I have told you all I think, without disguising or omitting anything. 
Make what use you may think advisable of my letter. 

Believe in my sincere friendship, 

Napoleon. 

i860. September 13. — Returned yesterday from a resi- 
dence of four weeks in the country, about eight miles 
from town. It was a neat, new house, which had been 
occupied for a month by Lord Shaftesbury, called " Oak- 
lands," about half-way up the hill on which the Crystal 
Palace is built; whether in Upper Norwood, Sydenham, 
or Dulwich Wood, we have never been able to ascertain 

36 



4 14 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

with certainty. I rented it from Mr. Rutty at ten guineas 
a week. Our enjoyments there were drives in an open 
carriage within a circuit of ten miles, incessant and de- 
lightful walks, and frequent visits to the Crystal Palace, 
to reach which was attended by no trouble whatever. 

Francis II. has as it were dropped from the throne 
of Naples. The red-shirted Garibaldi, unaccompanied 
by any military force, steamed from Salerno on the 7th 
ijist., and entered the Capital without the slightest im- 
pediment; the King sailed off to Gaeta; his fleet and 
forces have quietly passed into the filibuster's posses- 
sion ; a Sardinian corps landed ; and so ends the crown 
of the Two Sicilies without the shedding of a drop of 
blood ! 

Two of Victor Emmanuel's generals, Fanti and 
Cialdini, with large armies have suddenly invaded the 
Estates of the Church. Cardinal Antonelli rejected 
the ultimatum from Turin, — to wit, the disbandment of 
Lamoriciere's foreign mercenaries, — and without delay 
the invaders have taken Pesaro and Perugia, and appear 
sweeping towards Rome. The crisis of Italy has come. 
Louis Napoleon is equivocal ; his Minister has with- 
drawn from Turin, but has avoided breaking off diplo- 
matic intercourse by leaving his Secretary in charge ; he 
sends Guyon back to Rome with an additional French 
force ; but he intimates only a disposition to secure the 
personal safety of the Pope. Austria is collecting an 
army of fifty thousand in the neighbourhood of Mantua, 
but disclaims all intention to intervene unless Venice 
be assailed. Garibaldi affects no forbearance or com- 
promise, and speaks of accomplishing his work on the 
Quirinal and in the Palace of St. Mark. 

The Queen left Balmoral for Holy wood yesterday. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 415 

She reaches Osborne on Tuesday next, and proceeds 
from Gravesend to the Continent on Saturday. Lord 
John Russell is published as accompanying her. She 
proposes an absence of two or three weeks. The Em- 
peror and Empress of France have been visiting Savoy 
and Nice, Corsica, and are now probably at Algeria. 

London is cold, deserted, and dull; so much the 
better, however, for reading and reflection. 

i860. September 29. — The discomfiture of Garibaldi 
on the 19th inst. on the Volturno, under the walls of 
Capua, is a sad blemish on the burnished disc of his 
victories ; and it is the first. It was accompanied by the 
most alarming indications of a total want of discipline 
among his followers: incidents calculated to inspirit the 
Neapolitan soldiery at Gaeta, and to make them doubt 
the prowess of an adversary before whom they have 
been flying and melting away. I look upon it as the 
turning-point of a disastrous reaction. 

The Conference at Warsaw is said to be postponed 
from the 3d to the 20th of October. 

Antonelli's protest and complaint on behalf of the 
Pope against the Sardinian invasion of his territories is 
published. What induces him to withhold excommuni- 
cation ? Mas he discovered the total inefficiency of the 
weapon ? 

i860. November 17. — Yesterday the Lord Steward, by 
command of the Queen, invited Mrs. Dallas and myself 
to Windsor Castle. This, I presume, is a sort of ac- 
knowledgment for the handsome reception given to the 
Prince of Wales in the United States. His Royal High- 
ness got home on Thursday, and the invitation comes the 
very day after, equally prompt, graceful, and unequivocal. 
On inquiry, I find that no Minister of the United States 



416 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

has been called to Windsor Castle during the last twenty- 
eight years ! 

i860. November 19. — Returned from Windsor Castle, 
reaching home at half-past one. 

On arriving at about six on Saturday last, we 
were taken to the Castle, and at once ushered into 
the apartments assigned to us. They were in the 
tower of Edward the Third, and as beautiful and com- 
fortable as royalty could make them. Their furni- 
ture, paintings, and arrangements, with their magnificent 
lookout upon the park and up the long walk and over 
the sentries, engaged us all the time we were there. 
We dined with her Majesty and the royal family at eight 
o'clock, proceeding up the endless corridor to the draw- 
ing-rooms, waiting a short time for the Queen and Prince 
Consort, and then going en cavalcade through a suite of 
splendid salons to the table. We found gathered to 
meet us Lord Palmerston (Lady Palmerston detained 
away by illness), Lord and Lady John Russell, Mr. and 
Mrs. Van de Weyer, Sir Edmund Head, the Governor 
of Canada, Lord Harris, Lord Bentinck, Colonel Bid- 
dulph, etc. Invisible music played without ceasing. 
After quitting the table, we went into an adjoining parlour, 
and conversed in succession with the Queen, the Prince 
Consort, and the Prince of Wales, took coffee and tea, 
and, according to the invariable form at Buckingham 
Palace, we then assembled and seated ourselves in a 
circle before her Majesty near a round table. At about 
half-past eleven the Queen rose, and with her ladies in 
waiting retired, leaving the guests to disperse to their 
several lodgements. Our bedstead was splendidly deco- 
rated with canopy and gilded carvings; the bed was as 
soft as down, and the covering as light as gorgeous, yet, 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 417 

as is my practice on my first night from home, not a 
wink could I sleep. 

On the morrow, Sunday, we first went to prayers in 
the lovely little Queen's Chapel at half-past nine, and 
immediately afterwards convened to breakfast in what is 
called the Oak Room, every object of furniture and the 
wainscoting from the ceiling to the floor being of that 
dark-brown wood. On neither of these two occasions 
did we meet any of the royal family. At twelve o'clock 
we went in the train of the Sovereign to church, in her 
chapel, and in her pew. I was seated immediately 
behind her Majesty, on whose left was the Prince Con- 
sort, and beyond him the Princess Alice, and on her right 
sat one of the young Princes. In an adjoining pew were 
the Prince of Wales and others. Both pews were in the 
gallery. I should have mentioned that the Duchess of 
Sutherland was in attendance from the time we arrived, 
and was remarkably attentive to Mrs. Dallas. She and 
Lady Calydon, the sister of the Countess of Clarendon, 
were, with Lord John Russell, Lord St. Germains, and 
Lord Harris, in the same royal pew and in the rear. A 
clergyman of the name of Cooke performed the service, 
and preached a rather dull sermon, during which the 
Prince Consort closed his eyes and probably slept. At 
two o'clock there was lunch in the Oak Room, after 
which I engaged Lord Harris to escort me through the 
Castle, and obliged him to mount with me to the top of 
the great round Tower, an ascent of stairway, spiral, of 
three hundred feet. I was rewarded by a noble and 
extensive view from that height. This round tower is 
not to be surpassed as an object most beautifully pic- 
turesque and interesting, as seen from the numerous 
windows of the quadrangle. The Hall of St. George, 

36* 



41 8 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

just now fitting up for theatrical representations, the 
Rubens and Tapestry Chamber, the Armoury, etc., were 
visited. At lunch it was understood that the royal 
family, for the first time this season, would walk upon 
the Terrace ; so we all got ready to accompany them. 
The day was clear and bright, but exceedingly cold, and 
winter overcoats and shawls were resorted to. We found 
on reaching the Terrace two bands of military music 
collected in the garden below it, and they played all the 
time of the walk. The royal group proceeded backwards 
and forwards from one end to the other, their guests and 
attendants, when the turn at each extremity occurred, 
opening uncovered and reforming behind them as they 
passed. This continued for half an hour, when all re- 
turned into the Castle and separated to their apartments. 
This sunning one's self in the eyes of one's subjects, on 
the Terrace, may do very well where the sovereign is an 
attractive and active lady, but I can hardly conceive any- 
thing more awkward in the case of a fat and unpopular 
George the Fourth or William the Fourth. To kill time 
now we went out of the Castle to the chapel of St. 
George, and remained there until it was necessary to 
prepare to meet the Queen and family again at dinner. 
Mr. and Mrs. Van de Weyer having gone, the arrange- 
ment at table was altered. I took in Lady Calydon and 
sat next to Princess Alice, who was on the right of the 
Prince of Wales. When dinner was over and the Queen 
gone, I conversed for some time with the Princes, father 
and son, and was gratified at the empressement which 
they both displayed in expressing their cordial sense of 
the American reception. Her Majesty did the same 
thing, when we went into the saloon, to Mrs. Dallas 
and myself separately, as a sort of farewell. After going 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 419 

through the customary coffee, tea, and circle, the evening 
closed at half-past eleven. In the morning of Monday, 
after breakfasting at ten, we left the Castle and reached 
home without accident. 

Windsor Castle. 
At Breakfast, 19 Nov. i860. 

Lord Palmerston. — They say in some of the French provinces, " Quand 
un homme a le malheur de se marier, il faut se dedommager par le tra- 
vail de sa femme !" 

On Lago Maggiore two women rowed the boat while their husbands 
lounged idly on a bench. " How is this ?" said I. " Why, you see," 
said one of them, " when a man in this country takes a wife, he buys a 
donkey !" 

This Windsor Castle, for so many centuries the proud 
residence of British monarchy, is by some said to have 
been constructed on the dilapidated relics of a fort of 
Julius Caesar, and by others to have been built by Wil- 
liam the Conqueror. It is very far the most imposing 
and suitable palace to be found in England, or, perhaps, 
in Europe. Innumerable objects of art, paintings, sculp- 
tures, and highly ornamented cabinet works and vases, 
are spread through the endless corridor, having reference 
to incidents of the present reign. The first time the 
Queen — only seventeen years of age — presided at a 
Privy Council forms an interesting picture, Lord Mel- 
bourne, her Guardian and Prime Minister, in the attitude 
of addressing her from the farther side of the table. 
Then the Duke of Wellington, before the Queen and 
Prince Albert, assuming the office of godfather to one 
of her infants and presenting a rich jewelled casket, 
forms another. The gorgeous representation of the 
Coronation makes a third. The portraits and busts of 
Popes and Cardinals are numerous and excellent. 

I was so unfortunate as to be prevented going out 



420 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

shooting with the Prince Consort, as upon his invitation 
I had engaged to do on Monday morning. My influenza 
recurred with severity, and obliged me to write an 
apology. 

i860. November 29. — Dined at Lord Palmerston's, — a 
further recognition of the courtesies shown the Prince of 
Wales. At table were the Duke of Newcastle, Lord and 
Lady Wodehouse, Lady William Russell, Mr. and Lady 
Elizabeth Russell, Mr. W. F. Cowper and Mrs. Cowper, 
Sir Roderick Murchison, Mr. Haywood, and Mr. Delane. 
On this occasion it was the Duke's turn to pour himself 
out on the ovation, "than which," he said, with warmth, 
" the world had never witnessed anything more striking." 
He described the main features of his tour, and emphati- 
cally declared that, from the moment the Prince set his 
foot on the soil of the United States to the hour of his 
embarking for England at Portland, not the slightest 
incident had occurred to mar the general festivity. He 
ridiculed the gross misrepresentation as to what occurred 
at Richmond, and described it as the lively animation 
of good-natured boys who were really pleased with the 
unaffected manners of the Prince. 

i860. December 3. — The news brought by the steamer 
from America is exciting. The political storm rages 
fiercely in the South, taking a reckless direction for 
secession, and produces a financial panic which cannot 
pass away without effecting a widespread ruin. The 
successful Republican party at the Presidential election 
are striving to appease and propitiate, but having, during 
the canvass, taken the " irrepressible conflict" ground, 
and having had the aid of the Garrisonian Radicals, who 
denounce the Constitution as a " League with hell," it 
seems natural that the South should regard their defeat 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 42 1 

as involving a destruction of their property and rights. 
If I could perceive among the leading men in the agita- 
tion of the South any staid, judicious statesmen, I should 
think the Union lost. I see only such uniformly violent, 
effervescing, and unsuccessful ranters as Yancey, Rhctt, 
Keitt, Toombs, and I conclude that the local movements 
will yet be settled by the ballast near the keelson of the 
ship. 

i860. December 4. — I went to-day to the Clarendon 
Hotel to see Lady Stafford, who has requested me to 
advise her as to the execution of her will. Poor old lady ! 
about eighty, I presume; exceedingly averse to spend 
her money ; quarrelling with and abusing all her profes- 
sional advisers in succession, and making as many wills 
as she has fancies. I insisted upon the correct copying 
of the instrument, which had almost as many erasures 
and omissions and interlineations as there were lines; 
and I sent, somewhat against her economical notions, 
for a regular scrivener. He engaged to execute the task 
and restore the papers in the course of this evening, and 
I promised her ladyship to come to her again to-morrow. 

1S60. December 5. — Completed and witnessed Lady 
Stafford's will. She is one of the most exclusive and 
thorough Roman Catholics I have ever encountered. 
They should make a saint of her as soon as they realize 
her legacies. 

The Empress Eugenie, who has been wandering 
incog, for her health in Scotland, lunched at Windsor 
Castle on Tuesday last, and returned to Paris yesterday. 

i860. December 8. — Mr. W. S. Lindsay, who returned 
from his tour in the United States by the Persia last 
Sunday, called to-day, and entertained me for an hour 
with his travels. He says my introductory letters were 



422 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

of great service to him ; that he found his way to the 
several Chambers of Commerce along the seaboard with- 
out difficulty. He is under the impression that he has 
achieved a remarkable success, and read me a letter from 
Lord Lyons complimenting him strongly upon what he 
had effected. On all the points, except opening our 
Coast Trade, he represents the administration at Wash- 
ington as having promised to transmit to me without 
delay instructions to open negotiations here for a con- 
vention. Probably the difficulty will be much more 
with this government than with mine. At any rate, as 
the assent of Parliament will be necessary to many of 
the improvements contemplated, my work will fall into 
the hands of my successor, for no legislation can be ex- 
pected to be matured before midsummer, if then. 

Mr. Lindsay is earnest and animated in his admiration 
of the United States. The educated intelligence of our 
masses particularly struck him. He says the world has 
never witnessed so magnificent a throng as welcomed 
the Prince of Wales to New York. 

i860. December 9. — The news from China is deemed by 
Mr. Thomas Baring as rather sad. Two only, Mr. Barker 
and Mr. Loch, of the prisoners taken by the Chinese 
have been returned; the remaining four have disappeared, 
from bad treatment. The allies have captured Pekin, 
burnt the royal palace, and driven the Emperor a fugi- 
tive into Tartary. They have thus destroyed all means 
of negotiation ; can obtain no compensation for the past, 
and have entailed upon themselves a long and profitless 
war. 

i860. December 15. — Pekin surrendered to the allies 
on the 13th of October. The summer palace of the 
Emperor underwent a sacking equal to any inflicted by 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 423 

Cortes on the temples of Montezuma ; and yet these 
allies are of the civilized races of France and England ! 

Lord Aberdeen died at one o'clock of the early morn- 
ing of the 14th instant. 

i860. December 16. — It is announced that peace was 
ratified between the allies and Chinese on the 26th of 
October last, and Pekin evacuated on the 6th of No- 
vember. 

i860. December 19. — The message of the President 
was sent in to Congress on the 4th instant. I got it yes- 
terday. The President has been weighed down by the 
vast load he carries ; his sagacity, firmness, and patriot- 
ism have given way under the appalling condition of the 
country and the violence in his Cabinet. He argues too 
much, becomes inconsistent, and does vastly more harm 
than good. His propositions of compromise, as stated, 
he must know to be impracticable. The Northern States 
never will repeal their Personal Liberty statutes while 
the Fugitive Slave Law remains in its present shape. 
They profess not to be opposed to the Constitution, 
but to this statutory form of carrying it into execution. 
It undoubtedly has provisions capable of amendment. 
These provisions may not make it unconstitutional, but 
may shock the feelings of many and render it odious. In 
order to save the Union, the Committee in the House, 
composed of one from each State, should report on this 
point, first, an amendment of the law, and, second, the 
repeal of the acts founded on it. There should be no 
concession asked except upon compensatory ground ; no 
victory should be awarded to either section. The idea 
of restoring the old Missouri line, itself a palpable viola- 
tion of the Constitution, is a weak suggestion. . . . 

i860. December 23. — The Arabia brings the news 



424 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

that Secretary Cobb has resigned. He goes then to join 
the Disunionists, who, in Georgia, object to joint, but are 
in favor of separate, secession. Mr. Cobb is forty-five 
years of age ; before he becomes sixty, he will have dis- 
covered that a good cause is really only injured by vio- 
lence, and best promoted by calm and steady action ; 
he will then have become, for he has ample ability, a safe 
American statesman. 

The news in no respect diminishes the gloom of affairs 
in the United States. The situation is deplorable already, 
and worse is in prospect. I think it at once proper and 
becoming to manifest sympathy with my countrymen in 
their present trials. I have, therefore, declined Mr. 
Bates's invitation to the New-Year festivities at Sheen. 
It is impossible to be merry when one's country is gasp- 
ing for breath. 

China news is highly interesting. The first Napoleon 
has been always condemned by the British press for 
despoiling the academies and temples of Italy of their 
treasures of art, which he collected in his gallery of the 
Louvre. Still, they vindicated the burning of our Capitol 
and White House in 1814 by Ross; they bombarded the 
superb private residence of Prince Woronzow at Odessa; 
and here they are again, this time conjointly with the 
French, avowedly plundering and carrying off the orna- 
ments and comforts of an imperial summer palace ! War 
necessarily leads to excesses, which every effort should be 
made to restrict as much as possible. What conceivable 
benefit to the cause in which they are engaged could 
the allies derive from purloining pictures, statuary, and 
articles of novelty ? But such are the two heads of 
European civilization. The French have made a sep- 
arate convention, after the Treaty of Peace, bargaining 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 425 

for liberty to carry off coolies (hem!), for a recognition 
of Catholicism throughout China, and an indemnity of 
twelve millions of dollars ! Pretty well for Louis Napo- 
leon, and better, considering his looting, for Marshal 
Montauban. 

i860. December 25. — Christmas. Fahrenheit stood 
this morning eighteen degrees below freezing point. A 
rare degree of cold in England, exceeding any we have 
felt during our residence in London. 

Mr. Cobb resigned the Treasury on the 10th instant. 
He will greatly strengthen the secession movement in 
Georgia. A dissolution of the Union seems imminent, 
and, should it occur, will attest and perhaps permanently 
establish the supremacy of abolitionism ; for it will be 
seen that by the withdrawal of South Carolina, Georgia, 
Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, let alone the other 
slave-holding States, Lincoln and the Republican party 
will at once be placed in an overwhelming Congressional 
majority, and have a clear field to push their principles 
to extreme practice. Markoe and Hutchinson, writing 
on the same day, agree in drawing a most melancholy 
picture of the condition of the country, politically and 
financially. 

i860. December 29. — Dates and news from New York 
to the 15th inst. General Cass had resigned. Governor 
Dickinson is mentioned as his successor. So we go, 
from one unfit to another more so. My country, my 
country, whither in the intoxication of your liberty are 
you plunging ! 

Skating for several days on the Serpentine ; ice three 
or four inches thick. The wind has veered to the south- 
east, and a thaw may be expected. 

1 86 1. January 5. — Frederick William, whom I saw at 

37 



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AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 427 

maintaining the name, the flag, and the Constitution, we 
should be happier and equally great without the cotton 
States. He is inveterately hostile to slavery. Now that 
his two volumes are making him famous, he proposes- to 
be presented with his wife and daughter at Court. Of 
course I shall be proud to gratify his wish in that re- 
spect. I think he remembers that the literary fame of 
Washington Irving made him charge at this Court and 
subsequently Minister at Madrid. Lincoln can give me 
no more acceptable successor. The foundations for 
such an appointment are more broad, more durable, and 
in every way more satisfactory than those of mere polit- 
ical partisanship. 

1 86 1. January 8. — South Carolina, it appears, adopted 
her Ordinance of Secession on the 19th of December, 
unanimously. It has been hailed with exultation in 
most of the Southern States. Mr. Mason rather inti- 
mates that the movement is designed to compel adequate 
concessions from the North, or to form a basis upon 
which the confederacy may be reconstructed. 

The first article of Blackwood's Magazine for this 
month, " The Political Year," is one of much ability. Its 
purpose is to depreciate the present government by 
special attacks on Mr. Gladstone and Lord John Russell. 
In the concluding paragraph I find the following : " The 
last news from America announces that, Lord John Rus- 
sell having complained of the inactivity of the American 
cruisers in the suppression of the slave-trade, Mr. Dallas 
informed his Lordship, in October last, that 'the British 
Foreign Office had better mind its own business.' He 
wound up by stating that 'the government at Washington 
did not require to be continually lectured as to its duty 
by our Foreign Secretary.' Can anything be more 



absurd? We have a Foreign S 

and g ho, at one 

time, car. 

-nubbed for them, yet again finds them quoted as 

authorizing rebellion, and always finds himself doing 

: harm than g It is true, that, on the 24th of 

mber, I read, as instructed, a desp 11 General 

her, to Lord John Russ 

His Lordship did not like - that all Christendom 

had condemned the slave-trade, and he had a right to 

speak ag.. ast : I merely remarked that perhaps the 

serenity ot the State Department at Washington would 

not be disturbed by one or t tations but that 

his Lordship must be aware that too frequent recurr. 

in diploiv. ^ndence to the obligations of hu- 

g ;: of them by those addrc- 
cannot but be unacceptable. When I reported this 
r to the Secret.v S I added: " Eng 

.-. complacent and irrepressible 
ior morality, and are a] at really 

meaning inc: ..gal of their inculcations 

upon Here is the basis of I 

rem.-. 

I 5. — I have been kept For a week, and 
.Treat anxiety about the dangerous 
political excitements at home. The President has taken 
endly to the - sts. This has 

been seem, to the tion of 

Moultrie and the seizure ot a revenue cutter, in the har- 
bour of Charles Sooth Carolina aul 
General Floyd, as £ had pledged his 
•.or Pickens that there should be no 
change in the status of the fortifications in the harbour. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 429 

Major Anderson, in command, with prudent strategy, 
shifted his little garrison of twenty men from Fort 
Moultrie to Fort Sumter. The South Carolina Com- 
missioners at Washington protested, alleging breach of 
faith.' Floyd demanded orders to Anderson to go back. 
The President declined. Governor Pickens sent militia 
into Fort Moultrie and seized a United States cutter. 
Floyd resigned on 29th of December, and his resignation 
was quietly accepted on the 31st by the President, who 
appointed Postmaster-General Holt to conduct the de- 
partment until a successor was named. The President 
has addressed Congress, announced his determination to 
protect the property and collect the revenue of the United 
States with all the power at his disposal, and is said to 
have directed the frigate Brooklyn to be held in readi- 
ness at Norfolk, while two revenue cutters are proceeding 
to Charleston harbour, on board which a new Collector, 
Mclntyre, of Pennsylvania, will exact the duties on im- 
ports. In the interim reinforcements are being sent to 
Southern garrisons, as a determination to seize them has 
shown itself in Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina. 
These facts, if well founded, place the country in immi- 
nent risk of civil war ; and if, at the bottom of the whole, 
there exist, as Mr. Daniel, our Minister to Turin, vehe- 
mently assured me on Monday last was the case, an 
immense majority in the South who desire disunion and 
have been preparing to accomplish it for twenty years, it 
would seem that a sanguinary convulsion is unavoidable. 
Perhaps a large movement of militia, similar to the one 
made by Washington in 1794 against our Whiskey In- 
surrection, would overawe the disaffected and restore 
tranquillity. Certainly, South Carolina has taken, by 
capturing forts and cutters, a more decisively insurrec- 



43° DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

tionary character than could be attributed to the dis- 
orderly riots of Pennsylvania. 

My old friend " Betsey Bonaparte" and her son have 
enlisted Berryer and Legrand in a trial to come off on 
the 25th inst, before the Court of First Instance in Paris, 
asserting the validity of the marriage of Jerome in Balti- 
more in 1803, and claiming to share in the property he 
has left. If the marriage be sustained, the necessary 
result would be the illegitimacy of Prince Napoleon and 
Princess Mathilde. Here is fine garbage for Imperial 
scandal ! and " Betsey" is not one, though she can't lack 
much of eighty, to shrink in the pursuit of money or to 
be scared by a crown. 

1 86 1. January 20. — If we are in turmoil on the western 
side of the Atlantic, they are not much better off on this 
eastern side. The King of Prussia has just said to his 
general officers in Berlin : " The aspect of the times is 
very serious, and menaces great dangers. Gentlemen, 
there is a distinct prospect of struggles in which I shall 
need the entire devotion of your hearts. If I and those 
other sovereigns wishing for peace do not succeed in 
dissipating beforehand the coming thunder-storm, we 
shall want the whole of our strength in order to stand 
our ground. You will have to strain every nerve if you 
wish to render the army adequate to the future calls of 
the country. Gentlemen, do not allow yourselves to be 
subject to any self-delusion respecting the magnitude of 
coming struggles. If I do not succeed in obviating war, 
the war will be one in which we shall have either to 
conquer or be lost to our position in the world !" What 
convulsion is it that thus thunders in the index ? We 
hear the cry of " Peace, peace," in every direction, but we 
see specially dark clouds in various quarters. Hungary is 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 43 1 

on the eve of revolt, Denmark is arming to maintain her 
rights in Schleswig and Holstein, Italy, under the magi- 
cal inspiration of Garibaldi, will insist upon having, as 
parts of the temporal sovereignty of Victor Emmanuel, 
both Rome and Venice. War upon Austria then would 
seem inevitable, and it cannot fail to draw into its vortex 
Russia, Prussia, Germany, and, not impossibly, Turkey. 
But the words of solemnity used by the monarch involve 
a deeper meaning. They refer to the military avalanche 
which a breath from Louis Napoleon may precipitate 
across the Rhine, — his vast force of six or eight hundred 
thousand, his numerous and formidable ships of war, and 
his actual position as the chief of the revolutionary 
movement. The language is portentous, infinitely more 
so than the address of Baron Hubner on 1st of January, 
1S59. Where on the face of the earth can the stranger, 
Peace, take up her permanent abode ? 

The news from home during this week has been de- 
plorable. On the 10th inst. the President sent a message 
to Congress which depicts the state of things in the 
gloomiest colours. South Carolina, at Charleston, has 
fired repeated volleys at a United States transport carry- 
ing troops for Major Anderson at Fort Sumter, and has 
compelled her to retire. The Brooklyn, a second-class 
screw steamer of fourteen guns, and the revenue cutter 
Harriet Lane are about to convoy the troops back again 
to Charleston on board the Star of the West, and we 
may expect our next news to announce a bloody fight, 
possibly a bombardment of the city. Seward has made 
a speech in the Senate which the Times calls " grand and 
conciliatory," but which obviously asserts a determination 
to enforce the laws. Servile insurrection, too, seems 
contemplated in Virginia, some twenty-five barrels of 



432 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

gunpowder having been disinterred from secret hiding- 
places. 

1 86 1. February 2. — A slight solace to one's anxieties 
about home is found in the circumstances brought by 
successive steamers during the week. I. The proposi- 
tion of Mr. Crittenden, or " The Border States," seems 
growing into favour. 2. There was a large minority on 
the question of secession before next 4th of March in 
the Georgia Convention. 3. The Alabama members of 
Congress have been instructed not to quit, but to wait 
further advices. 4. The South Carolina Commissioner, 
Colonel Hayne, has suspended his demand for the 
evacuation of Fort Sumter. 5. Charleston is suffering 
greatly from want of supplies. 6. Major Anderson is 
universally applauded. 7. Virginia has adopted as 
satisfactory the compromise of Crittenden. 8. Financial 
affairs are improving; the United States stock rose one 
per cent. 

There would seem to be a most extraordinary depart- 
ure from the chivalric honour in public life which has 
heretofore characterized Southern gentlemen in the dis- 
loyal treachery with which Cobb, Floyd, Thomson, 
Thomas, and Trescott have pursued secession in the 
very penetralia of Mr. Buchanan's Cabinet. Nothing can 
relieve them from the charge of deceit and treachery but 
their having apprised the President, on entering his 
counsels, that, instead of recognizing as paramount their 
allegiance to the Union, they were governed by "a 
higher law" of duty to Georgia, Virginia, Mississippi, 
Maryland, and South Carolina respectively. 

Persigny, recently appointed to the Ministry of the 
Interior in Paris, made a popularity-seeking plunge at 
his outset in relaxing restrictions on the Press. Sud- 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 433 

denly he has turned a corner; giving, three days ago, 
an " avertissement" to the Courrier dc Dimanche, and 
arbitrarily ordering the offensive writer, Ganeseo, out of 
the Kingdom ! He says that Ganeseo is a foreigner, and 
cannot be allowed to criticise the principle of the Impe- 
rial Government. 

1 861. February 6 •. — Parliament was opened yesterday 
by the Queen in person. The military parade, turnout 
of royal equipages, and assemblage of Peers, Peeresses, 
Bishops, and Judges, were unusually imposing. The 
speech was fuller and clearer than common. The para- 
graph devoted to the United States was uttered as if 
really felt, though I certainly did not do what some of 
the newspapers allege, — nod my head with an expression 
of misgiving as to a " satisfactory adjustment." 

" Serious differences have arisen among the States of 
the North American Union. It is impossible for me not 
to look with great concern upon any events which can 
affect the happiness and welfare of a people nearly allied 
to my subjects by descent, and closely connected with 
them by the most intimate and friendly relations. My 
heartfelt wish is that these differences may be susceptible 
of a satisfactory adjustment. 

"The interest which I take in the well-being of the 
people of the United States cannot but be increased by 
the kind and cordial reception given by them to the 
Prince of Wales during his recent visit to the continent 
of America." 

Went to the Commons at eight o'clock, and witnessed 
the first scene of what I cannot but regard, for the ex- 
isting government, as an inauspicious breach, on reform, 
between Lord John Russell and Mr. Bright. The motion 
was to amend the reply to the speech by a clause as to 



434 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

the omission of that topic. Forty-six, in a thin house, 
voted for it. 

1 86 1. February 12. — Yesterday's news from home a 
shade more promising. The President's message to 
Congress on the mediatorial propositions from Virginia 
is calmly and judiciously written. It looks to that 
State for the preservation of the Union. The Conven- 
tion of the Border States, free as well as slave, assembled 
on the 30th of January, and we ought now to have its 
first movements. There will be a collection of distin- 
guished men at it, — Rives, Tyler, Reverdy Johnson, etc. 
I fear, however, they are rather effete celebrities than fit 
for the moment. 

A curious sort of intermediate public counsel, not em- 
ployed by either plaintiff or defendant, but seeming to 
act and argue as a Judge-Advocate at a Court-Martial, 
has addressed an admirable argument to the Bench in 
" Betsey Bonaparte's" case at Paris. He seems a repre- 
sentative " pro bono publico" His name is Duvignaux. 
Another singular feature of this trial was in allowing a 
presumptuous American called Gould to intrude his 
written notions as to what was general opinion about the 
marriage of Jerome and Betsey with our eminent lawyers 
in 1803! How completely this could have been ex- 
ploded by the production of my father's written and 
elaborate view of the whole matter given to old Mr. 
Paterson at the time ! I have the rough draft among 
his relics. 

1 86 1. February 14. — At about ten o'clock p.m., of the 
13th instant, Gaeta, in which the young Neapolitan King 
Francis II. has long and bravely stood a siege, capitulated 
to the Sardinians under Cialdini. So passes into the 
shade of exile another dethroned Bourbon! 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 435 

A levee to-day at St. James's Palace. I presented, in 
the general circle, Colonel Schaffner, of Kentucky, the 
indefatigable explorer of a northern route for a subma- 
rine electric cable, from the highest point of Scotland to 
France, thence to Ireland, thence to Greenland, and 
thence, finally, to Labrador. This plan of four stepping- 
points, instead of one vast leap, has its advantages. It 
may realize the old phrase, " the longest way round is 
the shortest way home." 

I dined yesterday with Mr. Croskey, meeting a com- 
pany of most interesting gentlemen, about twenty in 
number : Admiral Fitzroy, Mr. Dutton, Mr. Scofield, Sir 
Edward Beecher, Mr. Rae, Dr. Shaw, Captain Peacock, 
etc. 

i86i. February 16. — Another pamphlet in Paris by 
La Gueronniere — i.e., by, or with the approval of, the 
Emperor — has appeared. It narrows the temporal power 
and estate of the Pope to nothing, but keeps the French 
force in Rome for the safety of his person. Its title is 
" France, Rome, and Italy." 

The Duke of Buckingham's historical notices of the 
reigns of William IV. and Victoria, and the autobiogra- 
phy, letters, etc., of Mrs. Piozzi, have been my reading 
for some days. The former is very superficial, a mere 
skimming of Hansard and the newspapers ; the latter, by 
A. Hayward, Esq., Q.C., is full and entertaining. Both 
published since January I, 1861. Hayward takes occa- 
sion to give a hit at Macaulay's style of writing history, 
which is worthy of extraction, as undoubtedly just : " Ac- 
tion, action, action, says the orator; effect, effect, effect, 
says the historian. Give Archimedes a place to stand 
on, and he would move the world. Give Talleyrand a 
line of a man's handwriting, and he would engage to 



436 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

ruin him. Give Lord Macaulay a hint, a fancy, an insu- 
lated fact or phrase, a scrap of a journal, or the tag-end 
of a song, and on it, by the abused prerogative of genius, 
he would construct a theory of national or personal char- 
acter, which should confer undying glory or inflict indel- 
ible disgrace." 

1 86 1. February 17. — Mr. Reuter sends me a telegram 
from Queenstown of the American news. 1. The con- 
ference invited by Virginia met on the 4th, and re-as- 
sembled with closed doors on the 5th at Washington. 2. 
Slidell and Benjamin have withdrawn. 3. A truce be- 
tween Lieutenant Slemmer and State forces at Pensacola 
Navy- Yard, followed by surrender to latter. 4. North 
Carolina resolves unanimously to go with the other slave 
States if adjustment fail. 5. United States revenue 
cutter Lewis Cass treacherously surrendered to Ala- 
bama. 6. Fifty thousand people starving in Kansas. 
7. Secession of Texas definitive. 8. The President has 
refused to surrender Fort Sumter on Colonel Hayne's 
demand ; an attack expected. 9. Attempt on Fort 
Pickens abandoned. No blood yet spilt. 

1 86 1. February 20. — The day before yesterday the 
" Parliament of Italy" opened its first session at Turin. 
A great consummation ! giving the noblest immortality 
to Victor Emmanuel and Cavour. The 18th of February 
must be marked with a white stone. 

A levee at St. James's Palace. Anxious to receive 
my mail from home, I remained but five minutes after 
passing the Queen. Lord Clyde particularly cordial. 

1 86 1. February 21. — Dined with Mr. Thomas Baring. 
Mr. Holland, son of Sir Henry, and his wife, daughter 
of Sir Charles Trevelyan, Mr. Coolidge, Count Straleski, 
etc., were at table. The habeas coi'pus issued by the 



AT THE COUNT OF ST. JAMES. 437 

Queen's Bench, to Canada, for the fugitive Anderson, 
discussed and its correctness negatived. I, of course, 
abstained. 

At eleven o'clock went to Miss Coutts's. Spent quite 
an interesting half-hour there. The desire to catch up 
some news as to the progress of our Revolution gives 
me an eager entourage in every salon. 

1 86 1. February 22. — Just finished the Duke of Buck- 
ingham's two volumes on the " Courts and Cabinets of 
William IV. and Victoria." There is a curious note by 
the Marquis of L., which says that about 1845, "in 
a conversation at the drawing-room with Lord John 
Russell, Lord L. asked him what he seriously looked to 
in the present state of parties in the opposition, if Sir 
Robert Peel, in disgust, was forced to throw up the gov- 
ernment. Lord J. replied, he looked only to an American 
Constitution for England? I make another extract, as it 
is one which harmonizes with my own judgment, and, 
coming from so stern a Tory as Buckingham, is probably 
just. " No fair critic of public men can deny that Lord 
Palmcrston is a statesman of extraordinary resources. 
Indeed, his experience, his tact, his judgment, his inex- 
haustible good humour, and rare political sagacity, have 
maintained his party in power when blunders of every 
kind have most severely tried the patience of the nation." 

1 86 1. February 23. — Dined to-day at Moreria's, the 
Brazilian Minister, and went late to the Premier's. 

It is rumoured, though doubted, that at Savannah a 
mob has tarred and feathered Mr. Molyneux, the British* 
Consul. What's the exciting cause of this proceeding ? 
Have all our Southern friends " eaten of the insane root" ? 

The arrest and imprisonment in the Mazas jail of 
Mires, the great Jew speculator and railroad contractor, 

33 



433 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

is producing an immense sensation in Paris. It is sup- 
posed that, to avoid disgrace, one of his confederates in 
frauds and embezzlement, named Richemont, was led to 
commit suicide, and that he himself contemplates pur- 
chasing his own security by threatening to disclose facts 
which must involve many high personages. The case 
reminds one of Law and his South-sea bubble. 

Gave notice of my intention to quit my present resi- 
dence at the expiration of the year, March 24th. By 
that time I shall be ready for recall, and trust it may not 
be delayed. 

1 86 1. February 28. — On Monday evening last went 
with Julia and Sophie to hear M. du Chaillu lecture at 
the Royal Geographical Society in Burlington House. 
The gathering, ladies as well as gentlemen, was very large. 
The walls were hung with portraits of scientific celebrities. 
Sir Roderick Murchison, in the absence of Lord Ash- 
burton, presided. M. du Chaillu was successful in de- 
scribing his various conflicts with gorillas, and in con- 
veying a clear idea of the country over which these 
beasts are " Lords." He was highly complimented in a 
delightful address from Professor Owen, who eloquently 
portrayed the resemblances and differences of the human 
and gorilla skeletons. 

On Tuesday, the 26th, took a family dinner with Mr. 
and Mrs. Bates. Professor Owen, who is temporarily 
staying there, and young Victor Van de Weyer, with us 
four, made a party of six guests. The only poor dinner 
1 ever ate at Mr. Bates's. 

On Wednesday evening went first to Lady Stanley of 
Alderley, and second to the Duke of Somerset's, at the 
Admiralty. Not more than twenty minutes at either. 

No promising news from home until this morning. 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 439 

By the arrival of the Anglo-Saxon at Londonderry, a 
telegram announces the fact that the Committee of the 
Peace Convention had reported a plan for adjustment, 
made up of Crittenden's, Guthrie's, and the Border 
States' proposal. If this be approved, the great body of 
the Union may be saved ; with a reasonable prospect of 
reattracting the eight States which have seceded, and 
are now embodied as " The Confederated States of 
America." General Jefferson Davis and A. H. Stephens 
were inaugurated as President and Vice-President on the 
1 8th instant. Query : Were they chosen by popular elec- 
tion, or by the Convention only at Montgomery ? Per- 
haps they are provisional only, and for a limited time. 

1861. March 2. — Dined with Mrs. Mansfield; General 
S. Smith's daughter, Wensleydale, Dutton, Rawlinson, 
Rich and wife, young Clifford, etc., were at table. A 
crowded party after dinner. 

Went at eleven to Earl Stanhope's. Talked with 
Motley, Reeve, Murchison, his Lordship, Sir Richard 
Airey, etc., etc. In the dining-room, a fine portrait 
of old Lord Chesterfield, of an ancestor, and of an an- 
cestress, by Sir Peter Lely. A modern painting of the 
Duke of Wellington in military scarlet, for which his 
Grace sat. Lord Stanhope told me he was about issuing 
a volume in continuation of Macaulay's " England." 
This, I suppose, is the volume Macaulay had nearly 
finished, and of which his niece, Lady Trevely an, appears 
to be the publisher. 

1 86 1. March 3. — For the first time, Lady Charlotte 
Denison, the Speaker's wife, had a reception in the State 
apartments assigned to him in St. Stephen's Palace, last 
evening. They are extremely rich and beautiful, the 
panelling of carved oak, a good deal gilded, and hung 



440 DIARY OF GEORGE MI FELIX DA LI 

with an interesting series of portraits of the Speakers. 
There is a sombre atmosphere about the oak, which, 
though impressive and dignified, inspires dejection. I 
had long talks with Sir John Pakington, Duke of New- 
castle, Mr. Tricoupi, the Speaker, Sir Augustus Clif- 
ford. 

i So i. March 5. — At the Austrian Ambassador's to- 
night. He told me of the injunction against the manu- 
facturers of the Kossuth bank-notes, which his Emperor 
has sued out. There will be great difficulty in maintain- 
ing the proceeding. It is confided to Sir Hugh McCal- 
mont Cairns. 

Prince Napoleon (Plon-Plon) has broken out in the 
French Senate and carried the world by storm, in a 
four-hours' speech of great power and boldness. He 
defended the Dynasty as parvenue, and the Italian policy 
of the Emperor, who has congratulated him on his 
success anu approves the most of his views. This 
reminds one of " Single-speech Hamilton." 

On the 25th of February a Polish insurrection broke 
out prematurely at Warsaw. It was suppressed by the 
military guard, who killed some six or seven. The 
"nationality" was proclaimed by the flag, amid immense 
enthusiasm. The disturbance has continued from day 
to da}- down to the 1st instant, and looks very like the 
" three glorious days " which drove Charles the Tenth 
from Paris. The funerals of the victims rallied immense 
assemblages in deep mourning. Next year this move- 
ment might have become a great revolution. 

The young despotic Emperors are running a race of 
Liberalism : the Russian Alexander is completing his 
scheme of Serf Emancipation ; the Austrian Francis 
Joseph has given a representative constitution of much 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 44 1 

promise, and Louis Napoleon has reopened the legisla- 
tive halls to debate and criticism. 

1 86 1. March 7. — Dined with Lampson, for the time 
being a resident in a capital house at the farthest end of 
Eaton Square. Went at eleven to Lord Chelmsford's 
for fifteen minutes. A youthful dance. 

The news from home a shade more promising. A 
word of meditated coercion in the inaugural of the 4th 
instant may be the last nail in the Union's coffin. 

1 86 1. March 12. — Letters and newspapers, both in 
abundance, from home are gloomier than ever. We may 
yet pass through a convulsion only less frightful than 
the revolution of 1789 in France. 

1861. March 16. — The Duchess of Kent, the Queen's 
mother, died this morning, in her seventy-fifth year. 
Away go all further drawing-rooms, levees, and other 
palatial gayeties for this season. As possibly we shall 
not have an opportunity to see Queen Victoria again 
before quitting for home, I am somewhat pleased that 
we met her in her open carriage yesterday afternoon in 
Hyde Park and received her kind smile and bow. The 
Duchess was sister of the present King of Belgium, and, 
I believe, aunt of the Queen of Portugal ; so, three Royal 
Courts are in deep mourning. 

1861. March 17. — A long and interesting telegram by 
the America. The Inauguration on the 4th had gone 
off without disturbance of any kind, in the presence of 
some thirty thousand persons. Mr. Lincoln's address 
was both firm and mild, — firm against the constitutionality 
of secession, mild in assurances and language. Nothing 
in the telegram about convening the new Congress, nor 
about the new Tariff bill, though he noticed the passage 
of Corwin's resolution to amend the Constitution by ex- 



442 DIARY OF GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS. 

pressly prohibiting Congress from meddling with slavery 
in the States, and approved it. 

1861. March 20. — Dr. Hitchcock, of California, the 
surgeon of General Taylor at the battle of Buena Vista, 
who saved the life of Jeff. Davis by extracting from the 
wound he received a piece of steel of a spur and part of 
its leather strap, brought me direct from Secretary Black 
a despatch instructing me to oppose any recognition by 
this Government of a Minister from the Confederate 
States. . . I immediately asked an interview with Lord 
John Russell. As this despatch relates to high questions 
of domestic politics, and is dated as late as the 28th of 
February, only three days before the Inauguration, it 
suggests the possibility of its having been sanctioned by 
Mr. Lincoln, for his inaugural speaks to the same effect. 

Macaulay's fifth volume, edited by Lady Trevelyan, is 
just out, and is a brilliant specimen of picturesque history. 
His sketch of Peter the Great and his development of 
the rival pretensions to the Spanish succession are ad- 
mirable in every way. 

1 86 1. March 24. — Curious ! Lord Palmerston has ap- 
pointed himself to the Wardenship of the Cinque Ports, 
and is obliged to be re-elected for Tiverton ! No pay ! 

1 861. April 28. — I have repeatedly observed on the 
utter impossibility of keeping a diary without long 
chasms. More than a month has gone by, and an event- 
ful one, too, without my dotting a single item ! I must 
brush up and try to preserve the features of my few days 
for remaining in this great country, which, while com- 
manding my highest admiration, I find, after five years 
of trial, I do not and cannot like. 

I went last night to Cambridge House. Lord Palmer- 
ston has emerged from the tortures of the gout, and is 



AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. 443 

in admirable looks and spirits. He looks upon the ex- 
traordinary report of the bombardment for forty hours 
of and from Fort Sumter, without any one being hurt, 
as an absurdity which further news will clear up. Noth- 
ing else engaged the conversation of the whole company. 
Italy, Poland, Hungary, and Holstein all yield in interest 
to the drama thought to be now formally inaugurated in 
America. One gentleman confidently predicted that the 
Southerners would capture Washington and give the 
Northerners the severest thrashing they have ever had. 
Motley has worked himself into such a fever at the 
prospect that he says he can neither read nor write, and 
must go home. 

1 861. May 1. — The America brought me a note from 
Mr. Adams. He quits Boston to-day. I may, therefore, 
look for him at farthest on the 15th inst. 

The President's Proclamation against the seceding 
States as insurrectionary follows quickly upon the fall 
of Fort Sumter, and firmly accepts the challenge of war 
involved in that belligerent attack. It calls out seventy- 
five thousand militia, and will no doubt be enthusiasti- 
cally responded to in men and money. Thus, then, has 
sectional hatred achieved its usual consummation, — civil 
war! Virginia hesitates, but she will join the Confed- 
eracy, as will also, finally, Kentucky, North Carolina, 
Tennessee, and Maryland. My poor country can hence- 
forward know no security or peace until the passions 
of the two factions have covered her hills and valleys 
with blood and exhausted the strength of an entire 
generation of her sons. All Europe is watching with 
amazement this terrible tragedy. 

THE END. 



